Scrap plan to raise gas price or face movement
Gonoforum President Dr Kamal Hossain yesterday demanded that the authorities withdraw the proposal to hike gas price.
Dr Kamal, also convener of Jatiya Oikyafront, said Gonoforum will wage a movement if the government does not scrap the proposal and stop “fraudulence” in the name of public hearing on the issue.
Terming the proposal illogical, he said the move will increase people's living cost as well as hinder production and development. “This [the hike] will impact industries, daily essentials and even the transportation sector,” he said in a statement.
State-run Petrobangla and its distribution companies are demanding that the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission raise the gas price for end consumers to Tk 12.19 per cubic metre from Tk 8.63 now.
This comes after all six gas distribution companies -- Titas, Bakhrabad, Jalalabad, Pashchimanchal, Karnaphuli, and Sundarban -- proposed the hike as their production costs increased following the blending of LNG with locally produced gas.
Experts, consumer rights activists, industrialists, trade bodies and left-leaning politicians have already opposed the proposal.
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