A nexus of local public representatives, land acquisition officials, NGO workers and power plant officials embezzled about Tk 390 crore from two coal-fired and one LNG-based-power plants in the country, Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) alleged on Wednesday.
The power plants are Powerchina Consortium's Barishal 350 MW Coal-based power plant, S Alam Group's Banshkhali 1,320 MW SS Power plant and the state-owned Coal Power Generation Company's Matarbari 600 MW LNG-based power plant.
"We've maintained recognized international standards and practices in conducting our research to find out the corruption... We have necessary substantive documents in our hands to prove the allegations", said
Dr Iftekharuzzaman, Executive Director of the TIB, while briefing journalists virtually during the presentation of the report.
Mahfuzul Haque and Newazul Maula of TIB shared the report titled, "Coal and LNG Power Projects in Bangladesh: Good Governance Challenges and Way Forward" through a webinar.
"Local public representatives, land acquisition officials, NGO workers, and power plant officials have pilferage Tk 390 crore in the name of purchase-acquisition-compensation of land in the construction of three power plants in Bangladesh," the TIB research report claimed.
Iftekharuzzaman said if any individual or civil society representative can move the court on the basis of the allegations his organization will cooperate.
According to the report, the highest corruption - ampunting to Tk 255 crore - occurred during the acquisition of land and payment of compensation for the Banshkhali power plant. Around Tk 119 crore embezzeled in the purchase of land for the LNG-based power plant at Matarbari in Cox's Bazar, and corruption of Tk 16 crore in the acquisition of land for the coal-fired power plant in Barishal.
It alleged that the Power and Energy Speedy Supply (Special) Act was used to award the contracts of these power plants to certain companies in order to avoid the competitive bidding process despite there being many efficient companies willing to bid for the projects.
It said there is a lack of commitment on the part of the government to go for renewable energy though its production cost fell by 89 per cent.
The government targeted to generate 10 per cent electricity from renewable sources by 2020. But only 2.3 per cent of power now comes from renewable sources, it added.
Moreover, power tariffs were set at higher rates compared with similar projects which also involved corruption, it said.
The price of electricity per unit produced in coal-fired power plants in India, China, Pakistan, and Australia (in Bangladeshi Taka) ranges between Tk 3.5 and Tk 5. However, in Bangladesh, the price is higher. The cost of electricity per unit in Barishal is estimated to be Tk 6.61. The cost of electricity per unit in Banshkhali is estimated to be Tk 6.77, added the report.
"In comparison to other countries, Bangladesh has acquired more land than required to build coal-fired power plants, according to TIB. The land needed for the Barishal power plant was 81 acres, but 310 acres were acquired. In Banshkhali, the required land was 304 acres, but 660 acres were taken. Matarbari had a land requirement of 418 acres. A total of 1,358 acres were acquired," it said.
In the webinar, TIB also made seven recommendations to address these issues.
The report observed that the share of coal-based power plants is still one-fourth of the total generation. And the department of environment has miserably failed to enforce environmental obligations in implementation of the plants.
The TIB placed 7-point recommendations for the government which include framing an integrated energy and power master plan keeping the focus on renewable energy, cancellation of Power and Energy Speedy Supply (Special) Act 2010 and not allowing any fossils-fuel based projects after 2022, ensuring transparency, accountability in approving and awarding power projects, suspending all coal projects considering environmental risks and taking legal action against the persons involved in the corruption in power projects.
