The Minister of Commerce, Industry and Textiles and Jute Ministry, Khandaker Abdul Muktadir, said that load shedding has increased in the country due to the gas crisis.
The Commerce Minister said, our biggest problem is that our electricity production is still dependent on gas. This gas also has to be imported. Only 17 million cubic feet of gas is produced in the country. And 9 million cubic feet of gas has to be imported from outside. But despite the financial resources, it is not possible to import gas as per the demand due to some problems. As a result, load shedding has increased.
The Commerce Minister said these things to journalists while visiting the Basia Canal in Masukganj Bazar of Sylhet Sadar Upazila on Friday afternoon. The Commerce Minister said, the government is only 2 months old. But we have inherited many mismanagement and anarchy. We have to deal with them. Stating that the government is working to solve this problem, he said, and he also said that the Energy Ministry is going to tender to build a new terminal to increase LNG import capacity. The Commerce Minister said that even if the price of fuel oil increases, it will not have much impact on inflation. He said that the price of diesel in the country has increased by only 15 percent. However, the price of fuel oil in any neighboring country is higher than Bangladesh. We have increased it cautiously by 15 percent. So that the people are not affected much. The Minister said that if a truck transports goods for 200 kilometers due to the 15 percent price increase, the price of goods per kg may increase by 30 paisa.
This increase will not have any impact on real inflation. It is worth noting that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will inaugurate the excavation of the Basia Canal in Sylhet on May 2. Commerce Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir and State Minister for Water Resources Farhad Hossain Azad visited the canal in Masukbazar of Kandigao Union of Sylhet Sadar Upazila on Friday to inspect its preparations. Regarding the excavation of the Basia Canal, the Minister said that the full length of this canal is 40 kilometers. And 23 kilometers will be excavated. The excavation will start from Masukganj Bazar in Sadar Upazila and go through Osmaninagar Upazila to Jagannathpur in Sunamganj. This will benefit 90,000 farmers. And with irrigation facilities ensured during the dry season, additional crops will be produced on about 20,000 hectares of land.
