Government Making All-Out Effort to Tackle Energy Crisis: PM Tarique Rahman

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman said Saturday that the government is making every effort to address the country’s ongoing electricity, gas and fuel shortages, which he attributed in part to what he described as poorly planned decisions by previous administrations.

“The government is making its utmost effort to protect the country and its people from this crisis,” Rahman said at a doctors’ gathering marking the 37th anniversary of the Doctors Association of Bangladesh (DAB).

The event was held Saturday, August 8, at the LD Hall of the Jatiya Sangsad complex.

Rahman acknowledged that people are currently facing shortages of electricity, gas and fuel. He said previous decisions taken to provide special advantages to certain institutions had contributed to the current difficulties.

He said the government inherited a fragile situation and has begun working on plans to gradually ease the pressure on the energy sector.

Rahman also alleged that groups he described as beneficiaries of “fascism” are attempting to destabilize the country’s electricity and energy sectors by spreading what he called misleading information.

“We are developing plans so that people can gradually emerge from the gas, electricity and fuel crisis,” he said.

Before the gathering, Rahman and his wife, physician Zubaida Rahman, planted neem and arjun saplings at the LD Hall premises. He later formally inaugurated the event by raising the national and party flags and releasing balloons and pigeons.

The gathering began with a Quran recitation and prayer and was attended by DAB leaders and physicians from across the country.

DAB President Prof. Dr. Harun Al Rashid chaired the event. Speakers included BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Zubaida Rahman, Social Welfare Minister Prof. Dr. A.Z.M. Zahid Hossain, Health Minister Sardar Md. Sakhawat Hossain and DAB Secretary General Dr. Md. Zahirul Islam Shakil.