Sundarbans movement 'independent'
The National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports yesterday again urged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to scrap the Rampal power plant project, hours after she expressed her firm commitment to building the power plant.
The Committee has long been protesting the setting up of the plant, saying that it will pose a grave risk to the Sundarbans.
"We want to clearly say that the movement to protect the Sundarbans has thrived in years as an independent and spontaneous movement, which is based on scientific data and analysis and our social responsibilities," it said in a statement.
"We still hope that the prime minister will cancel the anti-people and anti-environment project by recognising interests of the people and out of her commitment to the country, instead of slandering the movement," it mentioned.
The statement from the Committee came after the prime minister raised questions about the sources of power and money that she said worked behind organising road-marches towards the site.
The Committee also said on the one hand BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia had created confusion over its movement by organising a press conference, but on the other hand Hasina is now trying to discredit the movement, taking an advantage of her [Khaleda's] statement, adding that it will hold a press conference tomorrow on the statements of Hasina and Khaleda and the new development.
On Wednesday, the BNP chief in the press conference termed the coal-fired power plant “anti-people” and “unprofitable” and urged the government to pull back from the project for the sake of the country's ecological balance.
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