News
Notes
A
fireball calamity
The explosion took everyone back to the Magurchhara incident
of 1999, where a drilling well, operated by Occidental, had
exploded, causing not only environmental destruction, but
a huge financial loss as well.
In the early hours of January 8, 10,000 panic-stricken people
fled their homes as a drilling-well exploded in Sunamganj
and a huge fireball leapt 300ft over a gas field. It seems
that the raging flames, visible from 30 kilometres away at
the Tengratila gas field in eastern Chhatak, will take about
a month to extinguish.
Operators of Niko, the Canadian oil company smelt trouble
when a sudden surge in natural gas pressure at the well was
noticed on Friday at 7:30pm. They desperately tried to tackle
the impending disaster by diverting the rising pressure of
gas to 500 metres away with a pipeline and burning it off.
"The major threat is over," later they informed
the press.
However, an expert from Petrobangla blamed Niko for the careless
handling of the well. According to him, the explosion was
the result of "inadequate monitoring" of exploration
activities and of drilling too deep into the gas field without
adequate structures. "The biggest fault of Niko is that
like Occidental, which had drilled in Magurchhara through
an improper well casing (made of concrete), Niko also made
a casing of 300 metres but went on drilling up to 800 metres
without any stable structure," the expert pointed out.
Niko's Operations Manager, Peter Mercier, however insisted
that the exact cause of this explosion was still unclear.
"We had a target of drilling 1,700 metres. But the disaster
occurred after drilling about 800 metres on Friday night.
We had tried to avert the accident by firing a flare line
within an hour of the abnormal behaviour of the well,"
he said. "The incident may have taken place due to the
high pressure of the well head. We will have to wait till
the fire goes out automatically," he informed further.
According to experts, the inferno will take 30-45 days to
actually come under control unless the gas from this well,
estimated to have a 300 billion cubic feet reserve, burns
itself out.
State Minister for Energy AKM Mosharraf Hossain, along with
secretary in charge of the ministry Nazrul Islam, Petrobangla
Chairman SR Osmani and Petrobangla Director (operation) Raihanul
Abedin visited the spot, where the state minister indicated
that the inferno will burn 30 to 40 million cubic feet of
gas a day-- worth about Tk 30 to 40 lakh.
Even
the PM cannot
get him arrested
With the infamous Bangla Bhai still on the loose even after
the PM categorically ordered his arrest some quarters of the
ruling party are feeling a little uncomfortable. Siddiqul
Islam alias Bangla Bhai, the leader of Jagroto Muslim Jonota
(JMB), an extremist group that vows to bring in Sharia rule
to the country through its militant strategy, has gone underground
after terrorising his home district Bogura and adjoining districts
including Bagmara, Rajshahi, the group's headquarters. Not
surprisingly, Bangla Bhai has his fan following within the
ruling party who believe that his disciplining of the outlaw
has been a good deed and has benefited ordinary people. News
reports in various dailies however, have given enough proof
(especially with photographs) that many of Bangla Bhai and
his group's victims of torture and killing included poor villagers
with no political affiliation. It is strange that members
of the ruling party have chosen to condone or even support
the heinous crimes of this notorious terrorist.
A
Diplomat chastised for
being undiplomatic
According to a Prothom Alo report, a vice consul
of the Bangladesh Consulate in New York has been recalled
for his apparent 'crime' of making certain comments. At a
discussion meeting commemorating Victory Day, the vice consul
said that Bangladesh's image was being destroyed because of
the distortion of the country's history. Among the faux
pas of the diplomat was his call for projecting the true history
of the Muktijuddho and the contributions of Bangabandhu. In
his defence the diplomat said that those who had contributed
to the Liberation movement should be recognised. He also said
that the history of our independence struggle should be kept
above from party politics. The vice consul was recalled immediately
after his comments were made known to the foreign ministry,
which warned of administrative action against him if he failed
to comply. The vice- consul, who has undergone bypass surgery,
asked for an extension of the time within which he would have
to report to Dhaka, but his request was refused.
Another
Garment Factory Tragedy
January 6th was a nightmare for factory workers of Shaan Knitting
and Processing in Siddhirganj, Naraynganj, where a fire killed
at least 23 people and injured over 50. Locals and firefighters
are still looking for more bodies as a number of staff members
are still missing. According to firefighters, the fire might
have been caused by an electrical short circuit. Witnesses
say that the fire originated from the ironing section on the
first floor when sparks started flying from an electric cable.
The clothes piled at the ironing section caught fire first
and within seconds, the entire room was in flames. Because
of the flammable clothes and fabrics all over the factory,
the fire had spread to other floors in the building in the
span of a few minutes. The fire lasted for about eighteen
hours and was finally extinguished by firefighters around
3:40 p.m. on Friday afternoon. A police investigation report
blames the factory's owners for the fire. Factory workers
suspect that the owner, Rahmat Ullah, caused the fire because
he has been unable to pay the workers their salaries for the
last five months. According to the officer-in-charge (OC)
of Siddhirganj Police Station, not only did the factory not
have sufficient emergency exits, the situation was exacerbated
when the power went off and the workers could not trace the
exit points during the fire. When asked to comment, Rahmat
Ullah claimed that these allegations were baseless. Selim
Newaz Bhuiyan, assistant director (Dhaka Division) of Fire
Brigade and Civil Defence, said that a probe committee will
be formed to find out what caused the fire, which has caused
so many deaths. The Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and
Exporters Association (BKMEA) has claimed that they will allot
Tk. one Lakh to each of the victims' families as compensation
and will also provide jobs to members of the victims' families,
if it is suitable. BKMEA will also bear medical expenses of
the injured and ensure payment of wages and salaries of the
workers and employees of the factory before Eid-ul-Azha.
Copyright
(R) thedailystar.net 2005
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