A NEWS report sounds highly critical on Wednesday as disclosure said about 90 percent of the budget of a solar electrification project implemented in rural areas has been misappropriated by project officials and other powerful persons around it. The project implemented by Infrastructure Development Company Ltd. (IDCoL) — a semi-government organization has been plugged by massive corruption and mismanagement when the concerned officials responsible for the project are allowing the situation to continue. It appears that powerful quarters are siphoning the fund using the cover of the project.
The disclosure came at a time when Bangladesh’s most laudable success in renewable green energy was highlighted in global context by Solar Association of Bangladesh (SAB) in a press briefing in the city on Tuesday. A vernacular daily, quoting the press statement, reported that the government’s success stories are facing setback due to lack of proper implementation of projects. Till 2015, the target of solar electricity has been achieved at about 5 percent of 800mw under IDCoL’s perspective plan for 2010-2021. If the failure continues, only 10 percent of total target could be achieved by 2021 to suggest that the project has totally become sick and money misused.
Bangladesh has been identified as one of the ‘Next Eleven’ emerging economies, which means the country would require more electricity for use in industrial and service sectors. In this situation solar energy has been planned and being developed mainly for rural electrification to make available fuel-based energy to business and industries. But planning is not enough; it must be implemented with equal commitment. The energy supply deficiency in Bangladesh this year stands at 19 percent. With the demand poised to rise with time, the setback in solar energy sector may become a major deterrent on our way to growth. Bangladesh is going for coal-based power for the next generation, which seems to be more harmful to environment, besides being costly.
The only globally acknowledged way to address the worsening situation now is to make more optimum use of renewable energy sources like solar energy. It will help to mitigate the crisis while significantly reducing dependence on non-renewable natural resources. Only 62 percent of Bangladesh nationals had access to electricity in 2014. Meanwhile, solar energy has demonstrated great potential in solving the growing crisis at residential level, besides supplying some electricity to industries at regional and even national level. It is time we must start considering solar electricity as a potential source to supplement mainstream supply network. But given the mismanagement and corruption at project implementation level, we are going to miss the opportunity. In our view intervention by party men in project financing must stop and all corrupt officials be removed and replaced by honest and capable officials to achieve the goals.
