Experts have urged the government to formulate a “fair and transparent policy” for Bangladesh’s energy sector to ensure energy rights for all the citizens of the country.

“Access to energy is now a very important right of citizens. So, environmental safety has to be ensured in energy transactions,” said Dr M Shamsul Alam, an adviser of Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB).

He was addressing a views-exchange programme organized by CAB at the University of Science and Technology, Chattogram (USTC) on Saturday.

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USTC Vice Chancellor Dr Jahangir Alam, Prof Dr Tanzim Uddin Khan of Dhaka University, and former dean of Social Sciences Faculty of Chattagram University Dr Hossain Kabir also spoke at the programme held with CAB vice president SM Nazer Hossain in the chair.

Dr Shamsul Alam said an energy policy is needed to protect the interest of the people of the country, said a CAB media release.

He said though the prices of petroleum fuels have declined in the international market, the people of Bangladesh still have to pay higher prices due to the government’s “unfair” policy.

The root cause behind the country’s energy crisis is political as private companies who place profits before people are making quick bucks from the LNG import due to the wrong policy of the government.

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“Now time has come to fight against the unfair policy to protect the consumers’ interest,” he added.

Dr Alam said the government has kept people in the dark about the tariff of the power to be generated from the nuclear power plant while ignoring the potential of renewable energy, especially solar power.

He said Nepal has successfully met its electricity demand from solar systems.