Plan for big swindle from power plant:Daily Sun

 Approximately Tk 10 to 12 crore is usually spent on producing one megawatt of electricity at a coal-fired power plant, but the production cost of one megawatt at the proposed Matarbari plant in Cox’s Bazar has been fixed at Tk 34 crore. The computation is almost the same in other countries of the world. It is not different to Bangladesh. For instances, about Tk 11 crore has been fixed for producing one megawatt of electricity at the 1320-megawatt Rampal thermal power plant in Bagerhat, which is now under construction. Besides, the production cost of per megawatt electricity has been calculated at Tk 10 crore at Barapukuria 275-megawatt power plant in Dinajpur, which is also under construction. But the production cost of per megawatt of power has been estimated at Tk 34 crore at the 1320-megawatt Matarbari coal-fired thermal power plant in Cox’s Bazar. Meanwhile, the officials of the Planning Commission and analysts said this proposed cost is unrealistic. Even it is impractical according to the international standards. “Massive irregularities are likely to take place in this proposed project,” many an expert predicted. Senior officials of the commission said there is apprehension of misappropriating and looting money. They, however, suggested making the cost of the project realistic before its final approval. It has been learnt that the cost which has been estimated in all sectors apart from the production cost in Matarbari plant are beyond the expectation. The proposal has been done in various aspects such as purchasing equipment, appointing adviser, land development and acquisition and buying transport. The price of the imported coal has been estimated in several times. Under this circumstance, the total expenditure has been increased unusually. According to the power division, Matarbari power plant is a priority project of the government. The total construction cost of the project has been estimated at Tk 40,321 crore. The lion-share of the money will be provided by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) as this moneylender will provide a loan of Tk 28,985. Moreover, the government will provide Tk 7,338 crore from its own fund. The Coal Power Generation Company Limited (CPGCBL) will fund the rest of Tk 3,998 crore from its own sources. A loan agreement between the JICA and the Bangladesh authorities has already been signed. The project is supposed to be end in 2023. Prior to the ECNEC approval, the Planning Commission invited an emergency meeting about the project. Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presided over it. The power secretary, planning commission members and representatives from different ministries attended the meeting. Raising an allegation of the estimated cost in the project, the commission members advised on amending the project cost. Abul Kashem, Managing Director of Matarbari Project, said, “It will not be right to compare Matrabari Power Plant with other power plants because it is a different one. Port, channel and jetty will be built there.” But BD Rahmatullah, former Director General of Power Cell, did not agree on the statement. He said, “In other countries, thermal power plants are built far away from city areas. There it is necessary to build new structure. Also the cost for per megawatt power has not gone up there.” It is learnt that coal will be imported from Australia, Indonesia, Zimbabwe and South Africa for power generation from the thermal power plant. The import cost has been estimated at Tk 10,255 per tonne of coal, including carrying cost. But the commission and experts said it has no connection with the present market cost. The price of per tonne coal on the international market is between Tk 8000 to Tk 9000. The Power Division has proposed buying 40 vehicles under this project. There are nine jeeps, seven double cabin pickups, two microbuses, three cars, 16 motorcycles, two speedboats and one ambulance. The total purchase cost of vehicles is Tk 22 crore. But Dr Shamsul Alam, member of the Planning Commission, did not accept the proposal of the Power Division. “There is no need to purchase a large number of vehicles under the project,” he said at a meeting last week. An unusual financial allotment worth Tk 600 crore has been raised for appointing advisers in Matarbari plant. But the Planning Commission mentioned this proposal as illogical. The proposed power plant will occupy a land of 1,482 acre. An amount of Tk 400 crore has been proposed for the acquisition of the land. Power Division officials said that several infrastructures like jetty, roads, dam, residential building, secondary school, college, mosque, shopping centre, hospital, dormitory, rest house, recreational park, lake and pond will be built in the area of Matarbari power plant. Energy expert M Shamsul Alam said that it is a good sign that Matarbari will be developed as an economic hub but it will not be logical if it is mixed up with the power plant. It has been learnt that a 373 unit residential building will be built under the project for which a huge expense of Tk 132 crore has been proposed. The Planning Commission has raised question for the necessity of such a large residential building and suggested reducing the cost for the furniture and instrument. In the next fiscal year, Tk 174 crore has been demanded for this project. But Tk 219 crore as block allocation has been allotted for over 50 projects.