PM takes a swipe at newspapers

In a tone of sarcasm tinged with ridicule, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday hit out at newspapers for criticising her government's reliance on rental power plants as a way of resolving the electricity crisis.
Hasina was speaking at the launch of the 17th Dhaka International Trade Fair at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital.
The prime minister said on December 26, shehad sat with the leaders of Newspaper Owners Association of Bangladesh (NOAB), who wanted to know of the latest power situation in the country.
“Their attitude is one of surprise at all the progress we have made,” said Hasina. On a note of sarcasm, she said: “You [newspapers] are the nawabs [rulers] and we are your subjects.”
Hasina said the NOAB leaders asked her why the government had gone for fuel-run and quick rental power plants at higher costs.
“To that I told them, 'All right, let us stop the diesel-run power plants.' But the NOAB leaders said it [power] was required. My response was, 'You [newspapers] say it is required, but when you write, you say precisely the opposite. That is not fair.'”
Alluding to the newspapers, Hasina said: “If we say anything against you [newspapers], the heavens come crashing down.”
“It looks as if those of us who are in politics have thick skins that will always be the target of others' wrath.”
Hasina said 2,900 megawatts of electricity had already been added to the national grid, and the government planned to construct three coal-fired power plants soon to reduce dependency on fuel-run plants.