Desk Report
Publish: 07 Aug 2022, 06:22 pm
Photo: Collected
Businesses
have agreed in principle to a proposal from the Bangladesh government for a
rotating day-off scheme for industrial belts in order to reduce the frequency
and length of power cuts.
Nasrul
Hamid, state minister for power and energy, said that, instead of taking every
Friday off, each industrial area could take its holiday on different days to
help allay the power crisis.
“Friday
is considered a day-off in all industrial areas. Instead of Friday, if day-offs
can be rotated in each area, then we will be able to distribute the electricity
budgeted for the area to some other areas. And load shedding can be reduced to
some extent,” he said after a meeting with representatives of top business associations
in Dhaka on Sunday.
Mostofa
Azad Chowdhury, senior vice president of the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber
of Commerce and Industry, emphasised that such rotations should take place
across Bangladesh.
“Power
department officials informed us that at least 490 MW of electricity can be
saved if we adopt this policy. We informed them that this measure should be
implemented not only in Dhaka-based industrial areas but also in other parts of
the country,” he said.
Noting
that such a measure had previously been implemented when power cuts became a
major issue, Fazlee Shamim Ehsan, second vice president of Bangladesh Knitwear
Manufacturers and Exporters Association, demanded that dyeing and spinning
factories should be exempted from the scheme.
"We
have said, if necessary, such a schedule should be reintroduced. But our
proposal is that dyeing and spinning factories should be given some
exemption."
The
day-off rotation may not be effective for factories run via captive power
plants, some people in the meeting said.
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