SYLVIA MORTOZA
Dhaka
The economic colonisation that replaced the colonial era has not benefited us in any way and has only served to perpetuate our dependency on foreigners. The reserves of natural gas are a case in point for although this should guarantee us a better future, it would seem that we are unable to keep control over it.
Though the gas resource may not take us all the way down the road to success, it can be a beginning as, when we think of the energy shortages of the past few years and how they have set us back economically, we should keep a tight rein over this resource for it is gas
that will help us resolve the energy shortage. Government policies must reflect and sustain the needs of the nation and not policies that reflect and sustain the values of other governments either directly or indirectly.
When dealing with gas for export, Bangladesh has to serve her own needs first. After all the viability of this depends on the conditions of the economic environment which are determined by many factors including our own perception of our needs. We should depend more on our own experts to define our future course and make sure it benefits more than just a few of the privileged.
Foreign companies naturally expect a return on their investment but in doing so they must protect our interests too. If it has not already been done it is more than time we decide our long-term objectives as we are, and will be, dependent on natural gas for our primary energy source for a long time to come but should we exhaust or deplete our natural gas reserve before an alternative is in place, we are sure to be in trouble.
It is this factor that causes us to hesitate about exporting gas. That the road to prosperity is hard we know but we must be able to stand on our own feet and this can only be achieved if we industrialise and to do this we need our gas. We must also be prepared to face the odds and as we are blessed with some of the best experts in the world, providing we listen to them, we have nothing to fear.
As people are still able to "persuade" us to do things that are clearly in their interest and not ours, we must find the will to resist them or there will be serious consequences for the national economy. We must link gas production to our needs before contemplating on its export. Opening up all the exploration blocks at the same time was, we feel, not in our interests and national interest must come first.
If a conservative approach is in our interest we must take it. In other words we must make new resources work to our advantage. Experts at a session of the "Election 2001: National Policy Forum" of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a policy brief on "Development and Governance of the Energy Sector" called for a moratorium on the decision relating to gas export until 2006.
They say independent and well-known specialised companies should be appointed in order to carry out a credible study on the gas reserve of all 22 gas fields. This sounds to us like the right way to go. Prof Iqbal Mahmud supported the views of the two political parties on gas export and said ensuring the reserve of gas for 50 years is 'quite' logical. The gas resource of the country should be used
Sylvia Mortoza writes from Dhaka , her e mail : zainah@bijoy.net
Source:
http://bangladesh-web.com/news/sep/06/v4n679.htm