Expat experts invited to dissect coal policy

MPs, academics to join brainstorming on its draft on June 15
Expatriate and local energy experts, parliamentarians and energy sector officials will examine the draft coal policy at a four-day exclusive brainstorming session, jointly organised by the energy ministry and Petrobangla.
The session begins on June 15 at Jamuna Resort near the Jamuna Bridge, sources said.
Eight expatriate experts due to attend the session are expected to arrive in the city this week from US and Australia.
Energy adviser Dr Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, five parliamentarians from northern Bangladesh, representatives from the parliamentary standing committee on energy and secretaries of the ministries of power and energy would be present at the event financed by Petrobangla.
The chairmen of Petrobangla and Power Development Board (PDB), officials from the Geological Survey of Bangladesh, Bureau of Mineral Development, Barapukuria Coal Mine Company, Dr Hossain Monsur of geology department of Dhaka University, and representatives from chemical engineering department of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) and from Rajshahi University will also participate in the session.
Meanwhile, the plan for this brainstorming session has raised eyebrows as some newspapers reported that it is going to cost Petrobangla around Tk 80 lakh.
Sources however said the event should cost around Tk 30 lakh. Petrobangla will pay for air tickets of six of the eight expatriates while two will bear the cost themselves. The other expenses include those for four-day use of facilities at Jamuna Resort and for transport.
Petrobangla initiated the process of hosting the session following a directive from the energy adviser who had been maintaining links with expatriate energy experts for long. “There is a110-member forum of expatriate energy experts. Selection of experts for the session was made through this forum,” said one source.
Dr Nasir Ahmed, Buet-educated chemical engineer and double PhD holder on minerals from UK and Australia, is acting as coordinator of the expatriate group. He is a UNDP consultant, and is working on coal mine for the last 20 years in New Castle, Australia.
The other guests include Dr Saad Analip, professor and chair of marketing department, Pennsylvania State University, US, Dr Khalequzzaman, head of geology department of Lock Haven University, Pennsylvania, US- based environmentalist Dr Sarwat Chowdhury, Buet-educated chemical engineer and former official of Gas Transmission Company Ltd (GTCL) now living in Australia and working on mines and minerals at Queens Monarch University Saleq Sufi, mining engineer working in Queensland coal and iron mines Masud Hossain, and Melbourne-based Global Positioning System and Global Information System expert Sultana Nasrin.
These experts will give their independent opinions on the draft coal policy that the government failed to approve in the last four years, mainly due to resistance from some groups, and controversy over the Asia Energy Phulbari coal mine project.
During the last caretaker government’s tenure, the energy ministry held its last meeting on the draft coal policy in October last year. The present Awami League government started working on the policy from March-April.
Many view the draft policy as anti-investment, unattractive and unrealistic. For instance, the draft makes it mandatory for a coal mining company to set up power plant. In reality, a mining company is unlikely to be a competent one for this task.
On rehabilitation, the draft policy demands that after mining the relevant land must be returned to the original owners in original state. It contradicts the land acquisition act of the country.
The policy also says that a committee would periodically fix royalty on coal production. Such a provision would create uncertainty over the investment. So, there should be a clear-cut range of royalty for both underground or open- pit mining so that project cost and return can be predicted, sources noted.

Courtesy of The Daily Star