Staff Reporter :The Supreme Court Bar Association [SCBA] has protested recent tariff hike of gas and power by the government terming it ‘totally irrational’.'”When price of fuel oil has been fallen drastically and production cost has also been reduced three times in the global market, the government has increased price of gas and electricity. It is nothing but patronising corruption and making partisan businessmen wealthier,” said SCBA President Khandaker Mahbub Hossain at a press conference held at its auditorium on Sunday.He said, “It is also an ill-effort to maximise illegal profit of party’s businessmen by increasing tariff of gas and power apparently without paying any heed to general people’s sufferings and adverse impact on national economy.” Raising allegations against government for signing contract with unskilled and inefficient companies to install quick rental power plants, the SCBA President said, “The government with an ill-motive made ineffective the public procurement act and introduced Special Act -2010 for speedy procurement of power and fuel. Here, the government has ensured sharing of quick rental power plants among its party men by expunging tender system.” Demanding proper investigation by a Supreme Court judge about the corruption of quick rental power plants, he further said, ‘The corruption in quick rental sector has reached to such an extent that the government is now misappropriating funds of officers and employees of public offices to realise the loss incurred from quick rental sector.”The government is now facing huge loss amounting to millions of taka for nor constructing power plants in due time. Even after that the contract has been renewed to buy power in high rate. Why?’ he also said raising question. In this context, Khandaker Mahbub Hossain put emphasis on detail discussion over the issue with the participation of civil society members and professional bodies.Echoing the same, General Secretary of SCBA Mahbub Uddin Khokan said, “About fifty thousand lawyers working in the country’s legal sector cannot remain detached from the society. They can give observations about any matter of the state. And do, we have arranged the press conference in protest of gas and power tariff hike.”
