Jatiya Party lawmakers on Sunday heavily criticised the government for failing to stop power disruption and mismanagement in the banking sector and road accidents, while taking part in a discussion at Jatiya Sangsad.
JP secretary general Mujibul Haque Chunnu said that the people of the country were facing many problems, which culminated in two problems, electricity being the first.
鈥楴ow load-shedding in rural areas is 12 hours in 24 hours, sometimes 8 hours,鈥� he said.
Referring to at least five hours of load-shedding in his constituency, Mujibul asked where the 28,000 megawatts of electricity that the government often boasts of had gone.
Mujibul, also the chief whip of the opposition party, requested the state minister for power to visit his area within the next two to four days.
鈥楶eople of the area have asked to invite the state minister for power to stay for a day to see if there was load-shedding,鈥� he said.
Mujibul Haque said that Tk 26,000 crores of rent had been paid to power plants in the financial year 2022鈥�23, keeping 41 per cent of them idle.
He also demanded the withdrawal of the indemnity for the rental and quick rental power plants.
Referring to the IMF proposal for increasing electricity prices, he also criticised the state minister for power.
鈥楾he minister called the price increase an adjustment. As he is ashamed of raising the price, he calls it an adjustment,鈥� Mujibul said.
JP senior co-chairman Anisul Islam Mahmud claimed that Bangladesh Bank had identified 10 banks for merger to meet 鈥業MF conditions鈥�.
鈥楾he liability of these banks is Tk 84,000 crores. Out of which, Tk 54,000 crores are defaulted loans. The names of these banks have come up over the past 10 years,鈥� he said.
Mentioning the name of Basic Bank as an example, he said, these banks are not working properly. However, Bangladesh Bank did not take any major steps.
鈥榃hat will happen to those responsible for this? Bangladesh Bank did not say anything about that. If those responsible are not punished, we will return to the previous situation,鈥� he said.
Anisul said that instead of merging weak banks with good banks, it was necessary to see whether it was possible to merge weak banks and make new banks.
He said that the crisis should be overcome to energise the economy.
Opposition chief whip Mujibul said that after most road accidents, it often comes to light that the vehicle has no fitness or the driver has no licence.
He advised the minister of the ministry concerned to take a strong stand on the matter and said that if old cars, unfit cars, and three-wheelers ceased to operate, people would not be killed like this.