Fazle Rashid

Anti-graft drive slowing down economy Bangladesh Bank has conceded that the anti-graft drive has slowed the growth of the economy of the country. A fear psychosis has gripped the business community. Lt.Gen (retd) Hasan Mashud Chowdhury, chief of Anti-Corruption Commission, has said that it will bear fruit in the long run. The General is an idealist and the entire nation would love to share his robust optimism; but the reality on the ground does not match his upbeat mood.
   Bangladesh is not the only instance where anti-graft drive has stalled growth or development. The World Bank had made its lending conditional on good governance and anti-corruption measures. It did not click. TheWB's board of directors made up of representatives from Europe opposed the its move saying there is hardly a country in the world where there is no corruption. The bank is now going slow.
   Here is an instance that would send shivers through the spinal chord of the moralists. Writing under the heading 'An Intolerable Fraud' the New York Times wrote two charitable organisations namely Coalition to Salute America's Heroes and Help Hospitalized Veterans have been shamefully milking easy cash in the name of wounded and disabled soldiers in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
   American Institute of Philanthropy, a watchdog, has categorised the above-named organisations as the worst. These two charities have collected millions of dollars from generous and softhearted Americans and squandered over 80 per cent on overhead and expenses. Money that donors surely assumed was going to ease the pains and speed the healing of injured soldiers, went instead to inflated executive salaries and other forms of corporate style bloat, the NYT said.
   Roger Chapin, who founded the two above named organisations, gave himself and his wife $1.5 million in salary, bonuses over three years. The charities also reimbursed Chapin more than $340,000 for meals, entertainment and other expenses and paid $440,000 for a condominium (apartment) and another $17,000 for a golf club membership.
   
   Tobacco would kill a billion
   Tobacco could kill up to one billion people in the 21st century in the poor and middle-income group countries, a study by WHO revealed. WHO is often painted as its biggest enemy by the tobacco industry. Tobacco smoking has considerably gone down in the wealthier nations.
   Larger NATO presence in Afghanistan
   The prospect of peace in the Middle-East is nowhere on sight. United States is pressing its European allies to beef up their presence by way of deploying more troops to NATO to fight the resurgence of the Talebans in Afghanistan. There has so far been no encouraging response from Europe. US Secretary of State along with British foreign secretary made a surprise visit to Afghanistan. No one is going to make any new commitment until a new occupant has settled down in the White House.
   
   Nuclear concern
   The kidnapping of Pakistan's ambassador to Kabul and two Pakistani nuclear scientists point to the fact that the Talebans are growing in strength. The abduction of two nuclear scientists will cause alarm in Washington and other western capitals. The other concern is the record production of popy for second year running.
   US defence secretary issued a stark warning to Europe saying their safety from terrorist attack by Islamic fundamentalists was directly linked to NATO's success in Afghanistan. The threats posed by Islamic extremists is real and it is not going to go away. Robert Gates said, "I am not indulging in scare tactics.
   
   Iran bars detention without charges
   The Chief of Judiciary in Iran has ordered judges not to detain any person unless charges have been framed against them. International Human Rights Groups have sharply criticised Iran's system of criminal punishment including stoning for adultery. Iran's Constitution makes it mandatory not to detain anyone for more than 24 hours without charges. Iran's Election Commission has disqualified a grandson of the late revolutionary leader Ayattolah Khomeini and 2000 other candidates supporting reforms. Reformist party has warned that barring candidates from March 14 elections the revolution was drifting away from its goal.
   The coming polls are shaping up as a competition between conservative supporters of Ahmedinejad and his opponents who criticise the government's economic policies.
   
   US Senators seeking White House
   So far 46 senator have made 56 bids to win their party's nomination for Presidential race. Only five of them were successful in winning the party nomination and only one of them, John F Kennedy, made to the White House.
   JFK will finally have a companion. All three front runners --Hillary Clinton and Barack Hossain Obama of Democratic Party and John McCain of the Republican Party --are all senators. John McCain has won the implicit endorsement of President Bush.
   
   Obama edges past Hillary
   Hillary Clinton's White House aspirations suffered a huge setback as her rival Barack Hossain Obama edged past her with stunning victories in Virginia, Washington DC and Maryland primaries. It is however too early to prognosticate that Obama will run away with Democratic party nomination for the Presidential race set to be held in November. The Democratic party contest is clearly becoming a fight between misogyny and racism. Obama won 75 per cent votes in Washington DC, 64 per cent in Virginia and 60 per cent in Maryland. Hillary Clinton in order to keep alive her hope for the White House must comfortably win in Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania. The Texas and Ohio primaries will be held on March 4 and voting in Pennsylvania is set for April 22. Predictions are that Hillary will sweep the primaries in these states tantalisingly leaving the choice of opting for the Democratic party nomination to the Super Delegates of the party. Here again Hillary has an edge.
   All said and done the Democratic Party nomination contest will be a nail biting cliff-hanger.
   John McCain will walk away with the Republican Party nomination. There is no doubt about that.
   
   Pakistan Army
   General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, Chief of Staff, Pakistan Army has ordered the withdrawal of all army personnel from the civilian posts. His immediate predecessor Parvez Musharraf in order to keep the army in good humour provided the army personnel with cushy and plum civilian jobs. The move is being seen as General Kayani's attempts at de-linking the army from the civilian posts.
   The withdrawal is solely on the direction of General Kayani. The Chief of Staff has also warned army officers not to mingle with politicians, an army analyst was quoted as saying by the New York Times.
   
   Ban space arms race
   Russia and China have jointly presented a draft resolution seeking a ban on weapons race in the space. The resolution was placed before the UN conference on Disarmament. China and Russia are trying to prevent an arms race in the space. America has said there is no arms race in the space therefore no need for a treaty. The White House said it opposed any treaty that seeks to prohibit or limit its access to or use of space. Weapons deployment in space by one state will inevitably result in chain reaction. And this is fraught with the new spiral in the arms race both in space and on earth, Sergey Lavrov, Russian foreign minister said.
   
   Names of corruption
   Corruption is known by various nomenclatures. It is called 'speed money' by entrepreneurs who pay the officials to expedite their cases. The other name is 'profit sharing' in which businessmen pay the officials a portion of their profits. These two of course do no harm to public exchequer. The other way money change hands are through payment of commission in big purchase deals. But this could also be eliminated if purchases are made directly from the manufacturers. A businessman in New York narrated his experience in doing business in Bangladesh. He admitted corruption is endemic and no efforts can eliminate it altogether.
   
   UN appeal for flood victims
   The UN office for the coordination of Humanitarian Affairs have appealed for a donation of $89 million to help 449,000 flood stricken people in Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Thousands have seen their standing crops washed away and homes destroyed.
   Russia has decided to write off most of Iraq's $12.9 billion debts. Russia has also agreed to invest $4 billion in Iraq's oil industry.

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Lalit K Jha in New York

The United States government slapped additional sanctions on the cronies of Burma's authoritarian regime on Feb 5, following a renewed warning to junta strongman Than Shwe against defying calls for reform from the international community,.
   Four companies and three individuals connected to the well-known Burmese arms dealer, Tay Za, were added to a list of individuals singled out for sanctions. Other prominent targets include the spouses of senior officials of the military junta.
   The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control issued the order on last week, soon after the White House released a statement criticizing the military junta. The actions of Than Shwe and his associates remain unacceptable to all those who value freedom, said White House spokesperson Dana Perino in Washington.
   "In defiance of the unanimous call of the UN Security Council, the regime continues to keep Aung San Suu Kyi isolated and under house arrest; refuses to allow United Nations Special Advisor Ibrahim Gambari's return to Burma; and continues to hunt down peaceful activists," Perino said.
   This is the second such statement coming from the US in less than two weeks. In late January, the US criticised the regime in a joint statement with the foreign ministers of Britain and France at the World Economic Forum held in Davos, Switzerland. Perino said the regime is planning secret trials of the prominent monk U Gambira and ten Burmese pro-democracy activists, including Min Ko Naing and Ko Ko Gyi.
   "The President has said that the United States would continue to review our policies and consider additional measures if Than Shwe's junta did not end its brutal oppression of the Burmese people," the spokesperson said.
   Through the statement, the White House made it clear that it was not satisfied with the response of Burma's neighbors to calls from the international community to use their influence over the military junta to restore democracy and protect human rights in Burma.
   "The United States will continue to do our part to help the people of Burma, and other countries, particularly Burma's neighbors, must do the same," Perino said.
   Soon after the White House issued its statement, The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control released a list of companies and individuals associated with the ruling junta who would come under sanctions.
   Adam Szubin, director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control, said the US would continue to take action against the military junta and all those who prop it up so long as human rights violations continue and democracy is suppressed. Topping the list is Tay Za, who heads the Htoo Group of Companies, which carries out key projects on behalf of the military regime. Szubin described him as an arms dealer and financial henchman of Burma's repressive regime.
   Among other individuals named is Aung Thet Mann, a director of Tay Za's Htoo Group. Aung Thet Mann is also the son of Gen Thura Shwe Mann, who is regarded as the third most powerful member of the ruling State Peace and Development Council. Tay Za has used his business relationship with Aung Thet Mann to win favorable business contracts from the Burmese junta. Thiha, Tay Za's brother and business partner, and Kyaw Thein, a director of Tay Za's business ventures in Singapore, were also targeted.
   Several companies were also blacklisted, including Myanmar Avia Export Co, Ltd, a company which the US alleges Tay Za has used to purchase helicopters and aircraft on behalf of the Burmese regime. Other targets include Ayer Shwe Wah Co, Ltd-an enterprise for which Aung Thet Mann serves as a director-and Pavo Aircraft Leasing Pte Ltd in Singapore.
   Four spouses of senior Burmese government officials have also been named: Khin Lay Thet, wife of Gen Thura Shwe Mann; Myint Myint Ko, wife of Construction Minister Saw Tun; Tin Lin Myint, wife of Lt-Gen Ye Myint; and Myint Myint Soe, wife of Foreign Affairs Minister Nyan Win.
   The new sanctions will freeze any assets held by the designated individuals or companies which are subject to US jurisdiction, and prohibits US citizens from engaging in any financial or commercial transactions with them.
   According to unconfirmed reports from Rangoon, the sanctions may already be having an impact on business operations inside Burma.

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On coping with the death of my only son

Muhammad Abd al-Hameed in Lahore

Life gives us an illusion of security, leading us to believe that we are under its protective cover. We become oblivious of the reality that death hovers around us all the time. When it comes, it pierces through that shield and hits us hard very hard.
   It happened on January 3. That evening, my only son, Umar, as usual left his office with some of his colleagues at the Credit Card Division of Bank al-Falah for some exercise. He decided to have another round at the joggers track at the Model Town Park before all of them went for a few tennis games.
   While his colleagues waited for him, his secretary called one of them from the office to find out where Umar was, as her call to him was not answered. "He will be back with us pretty soon after his jog," she was told. The matter was urgent. So, the secretary called again. This time a security person answered the phone. He told her, "He collapsed while jogging. We are taking him to Ittefaq Hospital in our van."
   While trying to remain calm, the secretary got Umar's home number from a colleague and called my home to tell us about what had happened. She also informed Umar's colleagues, who were expecting him to be with them at the park gate.
   On our way to the hospital, not even for a second did it occur to me that something serious might have happened. I thought he might have fainted because of his warmed-up body being exposed to evening cold. In the Emergency Department, I introduced my wife and myself. When the doctor asked my wife to be taken aside, for the first time I expected some bad news, still nothing more than some complication during unconsciousness. But it was much worse. The doctor told me that Umar was already gone before he was brought to the hospital. They had used every possible method to revive him and for double the usual time but in vain. What I could not even imagine had actually happened.
   It was the worst news that a parent could expect. But you do not die with the dead. You have to come out of the shock and cope with what has happened before it takes you down. It is easier said than done. I tried nevertheless.
   Never be alone I decided not to be alone. I usually go to bed around 2230 but the first night I stayed on with close relatives until around 0200. That enabled me to go to sleep without being awake for more than a few minutes. Otherwise, it would not have been possible to avoid being overwhelmed by grief. I did it every night.
   Never be quite. We often become quite when in grief. That makes the physical condition worse. I decided to keep on talking to visitors, who came to condole with me. I would give full briefing to everybody on how it all happened, even if he had not asked for it. It saved me from the physical damage that silence in such circumstances causes to human body.
   Never miss a meal. When my father died in 1969, extreme grief overtook me. My landlady called my wife and me downstairs and asked us to take breakfast. We pleaded that we had just no appetite but she insisted. She explained that not taking food would weaken our bodies and, consequently, make it difficult to bear the grief. She was right. So, I decided that I would not miss a single meal. In fact, the first night I took the initiative in asking others to join me for the dinner.
   The three methods helped me a great deal in overcoming largely the pain and gloom. (Memories are another matter because they never die.) Then there was the great cultural tradition that gave me enormous strength.
   Our people consider it an obligation, in fact a religious duty, to condole on death. My son's age (only 35) and his being my only son made his death poignant for all. So, people came in a stream. There were relatives and relatives of relatives. There were friends and friends of friends. Neighbours condoled not only in word but also in deed. Even mere acquaintances came. There were phone calls from here and abroad. The expression of genuine sorrow and sincere sympathy from so many was very consoling. They reconfirmed my belief that you may miss a wedding but must never ever miss a condolence. Your absence on a happy occasion may not be noticed much but one will always remember your visit if you call to condole a death.
   The strong belief that death is the will of Allah helped tremendously. Mind accepts death as inevitable, something that happens to all of us at different times. However, heart cannot easily reconcile with what has happened. So, mind was in control while I talked to visitors. But heart took over when it came to condoling. The struggle between the two continues while I pick up the pieces.
   There was a reality check. I have been an avid reader since I was able to read a newspaper in my school days. In fact, I could not resist a look at least at the front page even while going for an examination. When the cable television came, I would jump from channel to channel to watch news and current affairs programs. Being a news junkie, missing a day's paper or a television program seemed to be a loss. Now, for more than a whole month, newspapers have been piling up unread and television remains off most of the time. It no longer seemed to matter. The world could go on without me running to catch up.
   There was also a silver lining. Several persons had caused me so much pain in the past that I did not believe that reconciliation would ever come. I have never taken revenge in my life; I would just put up a wall around me to save me from further harm. However, all those supposedly impenetrable walls came down and bitterness dissolved within minutes after I learned about the death. It was not a conscious decision. It just happened. I embraced every one of those people as they came to condole me. My son's death gave a new beginning to my life.

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IDCOL aims at infrastructure development Holiday Desk

Sixty per cent of the areas in Bangladesh are still off-grid where people depend on kerosene at night. In many countries, people in off-grid areas adopt alternative systems for power for their daily chores. Renewable energy-based power systems are suitable for such areas where the government cannot expand its power transmission and distribution network, said M Ehsanul Haque, executive director and chief executive officer of the Infrastructure Development Company Limited, a non-banking financial institution, in an interview with Holiday.
   The company was incorporated in 1997 as a government-owned, autonomous public limited company with assistance from the World Bank. The objective of the company is to promote significant participation of the private sector in investment and operation, ownership and maintenance of infrastructure facilities. It has also access to resources provided by the GTZ, International Development Agency, GEF, KfW, SNV-Netherlands. Haque said IDCOL's prime activity now is to finance its solar energy programme.
   'Our solar home system program is massive. The funding agencies have increased their funds to help the programme.' The solar home system mission is to fulfil the basic electricity needs in rural Bangladesh and to supplement the government's vision of electrifying the whole of Bangladesh by 2020.
   The company provides grants to lower the costs of solar home systems and helps to build institutional capacity of the partner organisations. Such organisations are the employers of the main field-level workers who install such systems on micro-credit. Fifteen such organisations are now working in off-grid areas with financial support from the IDCOL. They are the Bangladesh Rural Integrated Development for Grub-Street Economy, BRAC Foundation, Centre for Mass Education in Science, COAST Trust, Grameen Shakti, Hilful Fuzul Samaj Kalyan Sangstha, Integrated Development Foundation, Mukti Cox's Bazar, Padakhep Manbik Unnayan Kendra, Palli Daridra Bimochan Foundation, Rural Services Foundation, Shubashati, Srizony Bangladesh, Thengamara Mahila Shabuj Shangha and Upokulio Bidyutayon O Mohila Unnayan Shamity.
   The main role of partner organisations is to select project areas, potential customers, extend loans, install the systems and provide maintenance support. Except for providing grants and refinancing, the IDCOL also sets technical specification for solar home systems, develops publicity materials, provides training and monitors the performance of partner organisations.
   Haque said the 15 organisations get soft loans with 10-year maturity period with 2-year grace period at 6 per cent interest rates. The solar home system customers are required to pay a minimum of 10 per cent of the system cost as down payment. On receipt of the down payment, the organisations reach a sales/base agreement, approved by the IDCOL.
   Its initial installation target of solar home systems was 50,000 units by the end of June 2008. The target was achieved in September 2005, 3 years before the schedule and $2 million below the estimated project cost. The partners could install 1,66,000 units of solar home systems in 2007 which is three times the projected target. The company's revised target is to finance 208431 units by 2009, with assistance from the World Bank, KfW, and GTZ.
   The IDCOL formed committees and independent organisations to conduct audit and training programmes for the success of the programme. The programme has created job opportunities. Every unit office hires a local young man who has good knowledge of the area. A number of good diploma engineers have also been employed by the partners to look after the technical aspects of solar home systems. Till September 2007, some 2,500 jobs have been created by the programme, he said.
   Solar home system is a convenient mode of supplying power to small electrical loads such as lights, radio or cassette players and television sets. Although available for limited number of hours a day, the supply is reliable and the system can be managed with a little training. The programme has also brought in positive changes in the economy of the rural people. Now they are using such systems to the advantage of their income generating activities - working hours have been increased. Students also can study at night. The use of television and radio has enhanced people's access to the outer world. Many women said they were feeling more secured at night after the solar home systems had been installed.
   A solar home system includes photovoltaic module, battery, charge controller, solar lamp and switch. Except for the photovoltaic module, other components are produced locally. Rahimafrooz, a local battery supplier, has doubled its capacity to meet the demand of the project. Charge controller and solar lamp manufacturers provide poor women with job opportunities. The IDCOL is also trying to set up a 1-2MW solar panel assembling plant in Bangladesh through private sector participation to reduce the cost of photovoltaic modules.
   The IDCOL solar energy project is a collaborative effort where the strength of each participating institution has been harnessed to the whole extent. A mass awareness programme and promotional campaigns are also in place to give the project a further impetus.
   The company is also financing large and medium infrastructure projects such as 450MW Meghnaghat power plant, 11.6MW Shah Cement power plant, Hilli and Sonamajid land ports, DNS Satcomm satellite earth station, CityCell network expansion, 33.75MW power plant expansion of the Summit Power Limited, and Ranks Telecom Limited PSTN project. It also implemented biogas projects and a 250KW biomass gas-based power plant. With the financial and technical assistances of SNV and KfW, the IDCOL is going to install 60,000 domestic biogas plants in 16 districts by 2010. About 3,800 biogas plants have been given pre-approval and 2,419 plants have been constructed.
   Haque said inadequate electricity supply in Bangladesh has been a major issue to economic growth and poverty reduction. The electrification rate is still very low as one third of the population has access to electricity. Just about 158KW hours per capita generation is among the lowest in the world. The current dependable generating capacity is abut 4,120MW while the peak demand is about 4,700MW.

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Funding individuals for renewable energy power

Holiday Desk

Massive industria-lisation keeps pushing high the demand for power every day and inadequate prime fuels such as gas, petroleum, coal and others are now not enough to feed the power generation plant. Nuclear power, which remains a hope for many countries, is not possible everywhere because of its huge installation cost. In such a situation where people are not covered by the national transmission and a minimum watt is required, renewable energy from the sun, wind, tides, water and other such sources seems to be an alternative, and also effective. Bangladesh is also one of the countries where a significant portion of the population is outside the national transmission grid. In such off-grid areas, a huge number of people could be brought under renewable power system by installing solar home systems said, Dipal Chandra Barua, managing director of Grameen Shakti, which has won the Right Livelihood prize, an annual alternative to the Nobel prize.
   The award was given to Grameen Skakti, a renewable energy company in Bangladesh. It was cited for showing that solar energy applications can be scaled up massively and rapidly to provide an affordable and climate-friendly energy option for the rural poor."
   Grameen Shakti started operation in 1996 as a not-for-profit company to provide renewable energy for rural areas of Bangladesh. "Our per capita energy consumption is only 16.67 litres, one of the lowest in the world, and 40 per cent of the people have access to grid electricity, most of them living in urban areas," he said.
   The rural people suffer most for lack of access to clean, efficient and affordable energy. More than 80 per cent of the rural people are forced to depend on cow dung, poultry wastes, and crop residues, which do not only provide very low energy, but also pose health and environmental threats.
   Since 1996, Grameen Shakti has achieved commendable success in installing solar home systems through micro credit system. It has so far installed more than 1,20,000 units of solar home systems all over the country. Along with Grameen Shakti, fifteen others, by the support of Infrastructure Development Company Limited, an autonomous government body are also working to install solar home systems in the country.
   The introduction of solar power has brought about changes in rural Bangladesh where the national grid fails to reach power to the people. It has transformed thousands of villages with improved healthcare services and creating better income generation activities for them. The people in such places do not live in darkness; they watch television and stay abreast of updates in national and international news.
   Barua said children can now have lighting for studies at night. Night schools are using solar power lighting to extend educational facilities to working children and the grown ups. Such systems help to run computers and laptops. Having been able to run such appliances have brought the world closer to people in such rural areas, increased their knowledge and understanding of the world, and opened up more opportunities for them.
   This has also made communications easy for the people, playing an effective role in business and family contacts. Physicians can provide better health care as they can run some devices and can have lighting for emergency treatment and even operation at night. Palli Phone has proved to be the most successful project of Grameen Shakti in off-grid areas, where women are running mobile call business powered by solar home systems.
   The Grameen Technology Centre is another successful project of Grameen Shakti. The centre has so far set up 20 units in rural areas, where women receive training in solar energy and cooking techniques. The centre is playing a role in achieving gender balance by changing the life of the rural women who had so far remained victims of energy crisis.
   More than 40,000 rural people are installing solar home systems a month and the trend is increasing every year. The technology centre has been staffed by women engineers who train rural women in renewable energy technology. Already more than 100 women technicians have been trained and many have started operating at the field level, some are making accessories in the local units of the centre and selling them to others who need them.
   Rural electrification through the installation of solar home systems in off-grid areas is progressing successfully. Efficient technicians are needed for repair jobs and maintenance to retain this success, Barua said.
   As the sun is available for 340 days a year in Bangladesh, solar renewable energy is an optimum and vital power system in off-grid areas. If adequate facilities and policy supports from the government is available, Bangladesh could be an example of solar power renewable energy success.

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Renewable energy can spur economic growth

M. Shamsul Huda

Access to electricity in Bangladesh is one of the lowest in the world, with only 35 per cent of the total population covered by the national power grid. The remaining 65 per cent of the population remain outside the electricity coverage provided by the government. This inadequate electric supply has been a major concern for economic growth and poverty reduction.
   Adequate energy supplies and greater efficiency in energy use are needed to meet the basic needs of a growing population. The country will need to tap various sources of renewable energy and to use them in an efficient manner for the benefit of the people.
   Renewable energy development programmes should be taken up in areas where potential renewable energy sources are available, in view of financial and technical viability in the light of environmental standards. Priority should to be given to rural area where the national grid expansion is expensive. This will reduce the pressure on the demand for commercial power supply and will help to avoid grid expansion and keep environment free of pollution.
   Renewable energy, a new concept in Bangladesh, effectively uses natural resources such as sunlight, wind, tide and geothermal heat to produce energy. Bangladesh, being closest to the equator geographically, receives an immense amount of sunlight almost 340 days a year. Solar energy, therefore, holds enormous potential for Bangladesh to as alternative to fossil fuel for electricity production.
   Solar home systems are now used for basic electrification purposes in the absence of conventional grid electrification in wide rural areas of Bangladesh. More than 200,000 households use solar home systems; the segment that uses such systems accounts for about 0.7 per cent of the total population. The Infrastructure Development Company Limited, along with various local non-governmental organisations and micro-finance institutions, has been instrumental in the promotion and commercialisation of solar home systems in Bangladesh. Since 2002, the company has financed more than 1,66,000 such systems all over Bangladesh under its solar energy programme.
   This renewable energy programme annually reduces use of about 30 million litres of kerosene and lowers foreign currency outage for import payment. Reduction of annual carbon emission by the programme is estimated to be more than 55,000 tonnes. The company has plans to have 500,000 rural households electrified with solar home systems with a generation of 25MW by 2010.
   Bangladesh can also get renewable energy from biomass, hydropower, wind, tidal wave and others. Fossil energy resources in Bangladesh are primarily consisted of natural gas. Domestic oil reserve is considered negligible. Several small deposits of peat, which have low calorific value, exist in the south-western region. However, Bangladesh has substantial bituminous coal deposits in the north-western region and the government is actively planning the extraction of such coals. Private capital investment to implement renewable energy is a major issue to be considered. This policy envisages accomplishment of its objectives by mobilising concerted national efforts with continued cooperation and the government, international organisations, funding institutions, civil society, community-based organisations, non-governmental organisations, research organisations, universities and private sector.
   It has become increasingly clear that for the development of renewable energy, the funding windows of non-government and private sources as well as financial and development institution should be enhanced.
   
   Renewable energy policy
   The government in 1996 announced the National Energy Policy covering renewable energy. One of the major objectives of the policy is focus on a optimum development of all local energy sources - commercial fuels, biomass fuels, solar power, and other renewable energy sources.
   To accelerate the growth of renewable energy in Bangladesh, the policy has needs recommend establishing a renewable energy development board. But more than a decade after the proposal for the board was made, the government is yet to finalise this independent agency for renewable energy.
   This agency was formed to facilitate the renewable energy based power generating bodies, institutions and other companies. If it was formed, renewable energy institutions could be helped in the development of renewable energy. Proposed responsibilities of the agency is that it will act as a focal point in renewable energy sector and represents the government at international institutions. It will also aim at taking concrete steps to remove barriers in making policy, institutional and financial development, marketing, information processing, and technical and human resources. Renewable energy projects should be taken up for them make a significant contribution in short- and long-term to identify and assess the potential.
   Other major responsibilities of the board would be to establish a renewable energy trust fund to finance renewable energy projects and research and development.

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Sunshine is a hope for off-grid people

Holiday Desk

It has become common for people in rural areas these days to watch television and work at night in electric light. This has been possible with the help of the IDCOL, a government agency which works on foreign financial support to install solar home systems in rural Bangladesh.
   In Bangladesh, 15 participatory organisations are working to install solar home systems to electrify rural areas. They are also doing the repairs and maintenance of the systems, said Md. Ruhul Quddus, general manager of the Rural Services Foundation.
   Of the participatory organisations, the Rural Services Foundation could install 874 solar home system units in December 2007, ranking itself second after the IDCOL. "Our major installation area is Satkhira, Khulna and Bagerhat," he said. Most people of Bangladesh are not still electrified by the government, he said.
   In the rural area, crores of people are deprived of electrification. Like many countries, Bangladesh can also adopt alternative renewable energy sources to meet the growing power for demand in both grid and off-grid areas. Solar and other renewable project developments that have so far taken place are not enough. Biogas, biomass and other sources can be tapped in a bigger way if this growing sector gets proper patronisation from private and public sector. Now the poor people living in off-grid areas can afford solar home systems because of micro-credit system and subsidy provided by the World Bank, GTZ, KfW and other donor agencies.
   In such a situation many think that the government is playing double standards in two types of micro-credit. The government does not charge taxes on profit from cash micro-credit whereas for the installation of solar home systems, participator organisations needs to the government taxes on solar power system profit.
   "Our national grid power infrastructure is subsidised by the government. So for solar home system installations, participatory organisations also need to be subsidized by the government as all citizens holds the right to equal government facilities," Quddus said.
   The government has also imposed duty on the import of solar modules. Import of solar home system equipment by paying 5 per cent duty is not encouraging for this burgeoning sector.
   "We through IDCOL have tried on several occasions have exemption of the duty, but the government did not do anything in this regard," he said.
   A revolution is taking place in the use of solar power in Bangladesh. This solar home system is cost-saving for rural areas and this has brought about changes in their lives, economic, cultural and social. The Rural Services Foundation on its own is going to arrange a festival marking Environment Day where it will provide scholarship for meritorious students scoring certain percentage in competitions. The subject and content of the tests will be climate change, renewable energy and environmental factors that cause imbalance and disturbances, he said.
   Prize money of this multiple-choice question tests will be Tk 500 for 200 students. The foundation is hoping to begin the fair on June 5. This festival, first ever of the kind, will be held to create awareness among the students of climate change and environment protection. He said other government and non-governmental agencies can also initiate programmes to create awareness of environmental issues. "We do not have any research and development centre on solar power system and other renewable energy. And the government is yet to implement the proposed SEDA which may help the sector in promotion, regulation and other development activities in the country," he said.
   Forty per cent tax as imposed by the government on solar micro-credit profit is discriminatory, he said. "The tax should be lifted as soon as possible."
   He said the foundation has plans to install improved cooking stove. With the support of the GTZ, some non-governmental organisations are working to develop this sector, but people should be made aware of these issues, he said.

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