Energy resources and security:
what govt needs to do
by SM Shaheedullah and Anu Muhammad
IN THE past, there has been little difference, if any, in the role of the governments, elected or unelected, in the matter of defending the national resources from usurpation by multinational capital. It is imperative that this situation change to ensure national development and energy security but this depends crucially on proper outlook and role of the present elected government with regard to national resources and national institutions. The physical resources of Bangladesh are limited but, given its proper utilisation, there should be no reason why people should suffer poverty, discrimination, malnutrition, unemployment and homelessness. In fact, our resources have become a source of danger of different kinds. Whatever meagre resources Bangladesh has, it is unprotected and lacks the people’s proprietorship over it and proper management. This is particularly true in the case of mineral resources.
The eastern region of the country is rich in gas while the northern region is rich in coal resources. The Bay of Bengal in the south is resourceful in gas, oil and many other minerals. The most prospective gas fields in the eastern region are under the grip and control of multinational companies. Though the maritime region in the Bay of Bengal has immense potential for oil, gas and other mineral resources, the maritime boundary of Bangladesh is still un-demarcated because of gross negligence on the part of past governments. Neither did the immediate-past interim government pay proper attention to the issue. The very sovereignty and national security is under threat as the uncertainty surrounding the maritime boundary persists.
The part of the Bay of Bengal under Bangladesh sovereignty is unprotected. This water body is traversed freely by military and civil officials and agents coming from the United States, India, Myanmar and other countries. There are also suspicious movement of their ships. These are too glaring to escape one’s notice. But for us, this sea also provides means of communication between Bangladesh and different countries. The sea is a field of vast resources, known and unknown, and the maritime area within legal limits under international law and rules and, under the proprietorship of the Bangladesh people, should carry the flag of Bangladesh sovereignty.
In such circumstances the maritime area has been divided into 28 blocks and bidding invited by the preceding interim government on the basis of a model production sharing contract which frustrates the people’s interests. It was a hasty move by the interim government to award contract for these blocks to multinational companies at their behest even before October 2008. Fortunately, the interim government failed to complete its plan because of stiff opposition from the people. However, the conspiracy of the international plunderers continues unabated.
A devastating project in the shape of Phulbari coalmine to guarantee plunder of coal resources in the northern region by a multinational company was pursued many years but this project has been foiled by the life-and-death struggle of the people. This very prospective coalfield was planned to be handed over to Asia Energy (now Global Coal Management), a multinational company. True, this sinister move has been quashed by the people’s resistance but the conspiracy lingers on. We may recall that in the face of the people’s uprising the then government had to enter into the seven-point Phulbari agreement. Notably, in the wake of the uprising Sheikh Hasina, then opposition leader and now prime minister, declared at a public meeting in Phulbari her full support for the Phulbari agreement and called for its immediate implementation. But so far this agreement has not yet been fully implemented. As a result, Asia Energy, which was due to be driven out of the country, has been engaged in nefarious activities involving corruption and crime, home and abroad.
A ceaseless economic haemorrhage of Bangladesh goes on, because of various anti-people contracts and usurpation in gas and electricity sectors. People are being fleeced to the tune of 30 billion takas per year on account of unfair agreements permitting the multinational gas and electricity companies to pocket unlawful bonanza. This amount will go up further if these trends continue. On the other hand, state-owned organisations are languishing for their own government’s deliberate denial of funds and patronage.
Based on the above facts and factors and global experience, the government, we believe, needs to take the following issues into consideration when formulating energy policies.
Proprietorship and authority
PROPRIETORSHIP of all mineral resources lies with the people, according to the constitution. The governments in the past have violated the constitution and handed over – and, in fact, are still trying to hand over – the people’s property to different multinational companies through secret agreements. This practice must be brought to a halt. One hundred per cent proprietorship of the resources needs to be restored to the people. The contracts made thus far in respect of production sharing of gas, coal and minerals are all against people’s interests and are burdensome on the economy and have proved to be a threat to energy security. Therefore, all the contracts should be made public and reviewed by committees of independent experts. Those contracts which are prejudicial to national interest should be rescinded. Export of gas, coal and any product hereon should be prohibited by law to be enacted for the purpose.
Compensation for losses and penalty for crimes and irregularities
DUE compensation for losses in Magurchhara and Tengratila blow-outs should be realised from US company Chevron and Canadian company Niko. Penalty should be imposed for delay in payment of compensation and evading of payment on fictions or untenable grounds.
Two former prime ministers have been implicated on account of corruption in Niko contract. Similar measures should be taken against Niko. Cairn Energy submitted false and misleading information on the Sangu reservoir and submitted exorbitant statements of cost of production and thereafter revised the figures upwards time and again. Now they have been putting the government under intense pressure in different ways to raise the price of gas. For this reason compensation of lost money and other penal measures should be claimed against Cairn Energy and their local associates. Jalalabad gas field discovered by Bangladesh was handed over to Chevron unlawfully. Yet, recently another adjoining gas field has been given to Chevron. By allowing extraction of gas from Bibiyana well at a high rate exceeding the safe limit Chevron has exposed the gas field to a big risk as in the case of Niko in Sangu. Chevron has caused huge loss to reserve forest and its flora and fauna in Lawachhara, while carrying out seismic survey for gas in the region. Officials of Petrobangla including its chairman were reportedly involved in these unlawful activities. Necessary actions should be taken against them.
Maritime boundary and maritime resources
MARITIME boundary should be demarcated and proprietary rights and authority over the area established on a high priority basis. Separate ministry or directorate for the sea should be established. Model PSC stipulating exports of gas should be scrapped. For generating skill for oil and gas exploration in shallow and deep seas BAPEX should be compulsorily made principals in all joint ventures.
Protection and maximum utilisation of coal resources
ALL irregularities and corruption in the management of coalmine in Barapukuria should be eradicated. In order to arrest land subsidence on account of underground mining all measures including sand filling should be carried out. Losses to homesteads on account of land subsidence and cracks in buildings should be fully properly and urgently compensated. Asia energy should be driven out of the country immediately and the method of open-pit mining should be prohibited all over Bangladesh, in accordance with the August 30, 2006 Phulbari agreement.
National capacity building
IN ORDER to ensure people’s proprietorship of national resources, national institutions need to be fully developed. To this end, BAPEX, Petrobangla, Geological Survey and Bureau of Mineral Development should be adequately developed and the proposed Coal Bangla should be established and made operational immediately. More departments at university level and also research institutes should be established at national level to develop skilled manpower for mineral resources development and their best utilisation. For this purpose, the services of expatriate Bangladeshi experts and foreign experts, if needed, should be utilised.
A national energy policy should be framed with a suitable mix of measures required for ensuring national interest and energy security – both short and long term while conserving environment and public interest through development of renewable and non renewable energy resources. Necessary institutional framework should be built for proper implementation of the policy and its monitoring.
Electricity
TREATING electrical energy as a mass consumer item, a policy framework should be laid down for establishing power plants in the state sector and supplementary power plants under private sector, owned by Bangladeshi nationals. The country should be unshackled from the current vicious policies, agreements and institutional provisions for purchasing electrical energy at an excessively high rate for the benefit of multinational companies and rendering electricity sector captive to the scheming multinational companies. Strict actions should be taken for corrupt practices of multinational companies and their local associates in the business of production and sale of electrical energy.
Trial
MINISTERS, bureaucrats, consultants and industrialists who were involved in the sinister conspiracy of siphoning natural resource in the name of exporting it through plunderous production sharing contracts and other contracts shall be brought to justice and exemplary punishment meted out to them.
Resistance struggle put up by the people of Bangladesh in the last decade against siphoning of gas to India and crippling of the national port in Chittagong and compromising with national sovereignty for the benefit of a private port to be operated and used by a private US company and against the devastating Phulbari coalmine project has won historical victories and are crucially important polarizer of future direction of the Bangladesh nation. The people of Phulbari have erected a permanent wall of collective human spirit against plunder, hegemony and siphoning of coal through sacrifice of lives and limbs. People’s verdict writ in blood declares that Bangladeshi resources must be for Bangladesh to use and utilise. The extraction and utilisation of this resource will be met for generation of electricity and industrialisation solely for the need and benefit of Bangladesh and its people. Needless to say, it is only a bunch of treacherous public enemies who can take a position against the people’s verdict.
SM Shaheedullah is convener and Anu Muhammad member-secretary of the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Port.
Forewarning of the perils of overkill
The main reason that the LTTE was banned internationally as a terrorist organisation was its disregard for human life and for human rights. At the present time the government is strong in its military victories over the LTTE. But these triumphs are coming at the cost of even the most basic of human rights of large numbers of innocent Tamil people, writes Jehan Perera from Colombo
PROFESSOR Noam Chomsky has been one of the icons of the peace movement in the United States since the days of the Vietnam War. He was recently interviewed for his views on Sri Lanka, which is being put forward as a possible international model of military solution in cases of protracted conflict. The government’s victory last month at Kilinochchi, where it took over the LTTE’s administrative capital and followed this up with other crucial victories, such as Elephant Pass and Mullaitivu in early February, brought in many international journalists to report on the military battles. But now there is a noticeable shift in the international coverage of Sri Lanka, away from military lessons to a focus on the escalating humanitarian crisis.
Drawing on his long years of study and reflection on conflict processes in the world, including those in which the United States was involved, Professor Chomsky said, ‘It is clear that there is a problem of Tamil rights. Now that the military aspect of the conflict seems to be coming to an end, what would be necessary, humane and best for everyone is to arrive at some kind of political solution that gives recognition to the valid claims to some form of autonomy or self-determination within the Sri Lankan state.’ While the military battles continue in the north, the remaining territory under the control of the LTTE has shrunk still further, and attention will shift to the post-conflict plans that the government has.
Commenting on the fate of the tens of thousands of people who fought with or supported the LTTE over the past three decades, Professor Chomsky also said, ‘The general presumption should be that there will be a form of amnesty. It is probably not a bad idea to establish some kind of Truth Commission, without punitive powers, but with investigative powers. This could bring to light atrocities and crimes committed on all sides, as a step towards reconciliation and living together.’ This statement takes on importance in the context of the stories that are filtering through word of mouth and through the internet of horrific conditions in the battle zones of the Wanni and even in the welfare camps set up by the government.
There appears to be growing international concern about the humanitarian situation in the country. The UN secretary general has said that Sri Lanka’s humanitarian crisis is an underreported one. The British government recently appointed a special envoy to Sri Lanka to address this crisis, which was rejected by the Sri Lankan government on the grounds that it was a unilateral action. But it shows the degree of concern amongst countries that have long been supportive of Sri Lanka’s development. In view of these pressures the government needs to reconsider its apparent policy of eliminating the last Tiger by military means even as the humanitarian cost of this strategy mounts.
Two insights
THE two insights of Professor Chomsky highlighted above are central to a peaceful future in Sri Lanka and need to be on the top of the list of priorities of Sri Lankan political discourse, including the parliamentary debate between the government and opposition. On the positive side, the pursuit of a political solution continues to be on the top of the agenda of a section of the government through the All-Party Representatives Conference headed by government minister Professor Tissa Vitarana. The APRC has a dedicated group of parliamentarians drawn from several political parties which have met 105 times over the past two years, with most meetings lasting between 3 to 4 hours as reported by Professor Vitarana himself.
On the negative side, however, the deliberations of the APRC are yet to yield a credible outcome despite interim reports that have had much that is positive in them. The problem appears to be that the real decision makers within the government have so far shown little if any interest in making the proceedings of the APRC acceptable to the ethnic minorities. In particular, President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who established the APRC, needs to give the process his political backing. The government’s decisive victory at the two provincial council elections held over the weekend show that its political strength is very high, with President Rajapaksa being its main focus. Perhaps when the time is deemed to be ripe, he will make the necessary effort to give his personal leadership to the APRC process.
There is also no indication that, at this time, the government is interested in any form of amnesty for the rebel fighters of the LTTE through a negotiated settlement with them in which they lay down arms. The government’s current position is to demand an unconditional surrender. As there is no indication that the LTTE is willing to concede defeat in such a manner, what has been transpiring on the ground is a ruthless battle in which no effort is being spared to win, not even if hapless civilians are caught up in the fighting. They have been fired on, even in hospitals, and families have been separated and made vulnerable to abuse. In its bid to weed out LTTE cadre, and who may be amongst the people, the government is engaged in a screening process under military control.
However, recent pronouncements by government spokespersons indicate that there could be rethinking on their part. Government spokespersons appear to be more responsive to international criticism of the lack of checks and balances in the screening and detention processes. Until recently the government has been reluctant to permit international agencies, even reputed humanitarian ones, from entering into the areas where civilians from the LTTE-controlled areas cross over into government controlled territory. Presumably, the reason for this was concern that procedures for screening will be judged as not meeting international standards. It had also been reported that welfare centres which house the civilians have restricted entry for non-governmental humanitarian workers.
Positive change
INEVITABLY, in the absence of independent monitors in the battle zones, both sides can find it easy to blame the other for the latest atrocity and try to get away with it. Partisan interpretations of what is happening on the ground are exacerbating tensions and hatreds between the ethnic communities. The clearest manifestations of ethnic polarisation are in internet communications being exchanged by those who live abroad, and who do not have to face the direct consequences of their opinions. On the other hand, within Sri Lanka, dissenting voices that seek to give priority to civilian concerns are intimidated in their public comments or totally silenced by the impunity that exists. The end result is that hapless civilians suffer and the voice of conscience is stilled.
Nonetheless, the latest statements by government spokespersons refer to a healthy relationship between government administrators, military, local NGOs, and international NGOs. This would be the ideal situation where sentiments about a good working relationship are mutually shared. A mutually agreed working relationship based on international standards is the only positive foundation for post-war reconstruction and reconciliation.
A few days ago, I received a telephone call from a colleague in the peace movement, who is a Catholic nun. She told me that several of the nuns in her convent were Tamil, and they had lost family members in the Wanni region, where the last battles are now being fought. She asked me if there was anything I could do. When my silence spoke louder than words, she asked me to at least listen to what they had to say. Another nun came on the line, her voice virtually inaudible, saying between sobs, ‘They are all gone.’ It had been just confirmed that most of her family had been killed, including her parents. This is the plight of a section of Sri Lanka’s people today.
In recent days the international media has been spotlighting the stories of civilians who have been able to leave the LTTE-controlled areas. One media report was of a Catholic nun shot and injured for attempting to leave along with civilians. The main reason that the LTTE was banned internationally as a terrorist organisation was its disregard for human life and for human rights. At the present time the government is strong in its military victories over the LTTE. But these triumphs are coming at the cost of even the most basic of human rights of large numbers of innocent Tamil people. The perils of overkill that doomed the LTTE must forewarn the government which was mandated to look after the interests of all sections of the Sri Lankan people.
Jehan Perera is media director of the National Peace Council in Colombo, Sri Lanka. jehanpc@sltnet.lk
About TIFA
As we have promised to build a democratic nation we should start practising democracy. That is why the parliament should be made the hallmark of democratic practice. The government has expressed its will to sign TIFA with the United States. Even in the United States of America, every international agreement needs to be discussed in the Senate and Congress and is subject to scrutiny. So, why should Bangladesh not do the same? The TIFA must be discussed in the parliament and it should be made open to the public. We believe the government will not do anything which goes against the country’s interest. TIFA is not a security deal. It is a trade deal. So there is no harm for the country if the government makes the proposed draft public which will in fact protect our country’s interest more strongly.
Faisal
Dhaka
Polytechnic violence
It was a pity that damage had been done to assets and property of polytechnic institutes across the country on February 10. The board administration, I tend to believe, had been less smart for they failed to address the issue in advance that had been brewing for some time past, but yielded only after the damages were done. It may seem harsh to the Technical Education Board bosses, but I could not help myself making the observation as I worked for a polytechnic institute during its formative years in late 1950s and have been involved as a senior teacher until the mid-1990s.
A citizen
Via e-mail
Nizami’s war crime
I refer to your lead story of February 15. I think that the government is going the right direction by first starting a thorough investigation. Punishing anyone without a proper investigation will be miscarriage of justice.
Nizami is a religious person. But in 1971 he and his cohorts probably crossed all limits. Allah in His many messages has asked mankind not to cross limit and also He assures that a sinner will be punished by Him. The collaborators of 1971 did not only commit crime against humanity they also disobeyed Allah.
How could they remain unpunished for so long!
Haq
Via e-mail
Congratulations to the new president
We, the apolitical citizens, wholeheartedly congratulate Zillur Rahman, the new and the 19th president of the republic. We hope he will perform the duties and responsibilities of the republic impartially and as the president of the country.
Alamin Al Azad,
Public Administration, DU
Shomadhi and mazar
Could someone help me to understand the semantic difference between ‘shomadhi’ and ‘mazar’. When someone dies he is buried in a ‘kobor’ (a common Bengali word). But why the ‘kobor’ is called ‘shomadhi’ for some people and ‘mazar’ for some other people!
Waheed Nabi
UK
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