THE rosy picture, published in a front-page box in a local English-language daily on June 8, as presented in parliament by finance minister was a classical case of playing with the power of words (not deeds of course). Come what may, our ‘magical’ minister effortlessly supersedes the power of watts that we desperately need, by the empty power of words, which are not needed.
To quote him: ‘Within the next financial year (July 2013), there will be huge surplus power.’ It is quantified down to the last megawatt! It will be 1,172 megawatts — not a megawatt less, not a megawatt more!
However, we the miserably suffering citizens will be happy even if surplus power is zero megawatt and we can live in load shedding-free days. As reported, our finance minister further stated: ‘in the past, the government had targeted 2011 to be zero load shedding year.’ Reality, however, was that, if we recall, 2011 possibly had ‘zero’ load shedding-free day!
But then, ‘the past is all lies, the present the truth, and the future a dream’, well known to our finance minister. So, let us dream on, fellow citizens, for the much-awaited July 2013 to come when ‘load shedding’ will be a feature of the past! Let us wait for the next twelve months; and dream of fan-cooled days to come!
If word alone could become deeds; then the total number of words in the finance minister’s budget speech would ensure us power and gas shortage free days, come, 'magical' July 2013!
Finally the front-page headline on the matter hit the nail on the reality by stating ‘Problems aplenty, prospects bleak’. I would like to cheekily add another pair of words to it — ‘promises cascade’— to round it up while we dream on and on!
A bemused citizen
Dhaka