Production at Barapukuria suspended

By Our Correspondent, Dinajpur
16 August 2006, 18:00 PM
Production at 250-megawatt Barapukuria Power Plant remained suspended since Wednesday after it tripped again due to technical fault resulting in massive power outage in the region, said officials in the Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB).

However, the BPDB officials said the plant was shut down for routine maintenance work. Plant sources said it would need at least 10 more days to go into production in one of units.

The plant was set up under a supplier's credit of over US 250 million dollar. But the plant tripped for over 15 times since February last allegedly due to sub-standard machinery supplied by the Chinese company, CMC.

CMC was supposed to keep maintenance of the plant for two years as per an agreement. But plant sources alleged that its operation and maintenance are hampered due to non-cooperation of CMC with BPDB as well as its non-compliance of the contract.