Proper utilisation of fund demanded

At a press conference at the Diploma Engineers' Institute auditorium yesterday, they alleged that government might provide the huge fund to different NGOs in the country.

"If the government opts for the NGOs, it will only result in misuse of the fund," said Shafiqul Islam, president of Bio-gas Diploma Engineers' Association (BDEA).

He said there is huge potential for biogas plants to produce gas and power.

So far, some 22,000 biogas plants have been installed across the country. Of these, government engineers installed 13,000 plants in two phases under a pilot project.

As per a study conducted by the Ministry of Science, Information and Communication Technology, anther 40 lakh plants could be installed in the country.

This will benefit about four crore people and save some Tk 12,000 crore in terms of energy.

The leaders of the diploma engineers said that if the NGOs are assigned for installing the biogas plants, the cost would be higher than that of the government engineers.

Besides, 50 per cent of the NGO-installed plants became inoperative within few years while the plants installed by the government engineers have been running well.

The diploma engineers' leaders said they would submit a memorandum to the Minister for Science and ICT on July 16 and stage a demonstration at Muktangan in the city on July 23 to press their demand.