First on-grid solar plant: Workers unpaid for 4 months, many quitting
As many as 18 officials and employees of a private company working at the country's first on-grid solar plant in Sarishabari upazila have not been paid for the last four months.
A number of the officials and workers of Sarishabari 3MW Engreen Solar Plant, installed at Power Development Board (PDB) premises in the upazila, have left their jobs as the private firm failed to provide their salaries in time.
Engineer Anwarul Kabir, project manager, said as per their agreement, the PDB was supposed to pay their bills in every two months, but it has not paid the bills even after six months.
It is obvious that if the workers don't get paid in time, they will leave and the plant might have to stop power generation due to shortage of manpower, he added.
The 20-year-life-span Engreen Solar Plant, set up by Concord Progoti Consortium Ltd (CPCL), started generating power for 12 hours from sunrise to sunset in August, 2017, with a view to reduce loadshedding in the upazila.
The company started its operation with 25 employees and seven of them have already left for not getting salaries in time.
According to Engreen Solar Plant Office, the company is paying Tk 5 lakh monthly for staff salary, by selling power to PDB for Tk 15 per unit.
When entrepreneurs from different sectors are being encouraged to set up more on-grid or off-grid solar plants to generate green energy, the government should take necessary steps to stop such irregularities, Deputy Project Manager Motaharul Islam said.
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