The government cannot be overthrown by sneak attack: Prime Minister

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that the government cannot be overthrown by sneak attacks. They (BNP) are attacking various places and injuring people in the name of siege. Police and journalists are being attacked. We have been seeing such terrorist activities of BNP for ages.

The Prime Minister said this while addressing a public meeting organized by Awami League at Musleh Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium in Narsingdi at 4 pm on Sunday (November 12).

The Prime Minister said that they (BNP) attacked the police hospital and burnt the ambulance. Did someone attack the hospital? The head of government also mentioned that Tarek Zia’s followers are carrying out these attacks.

Addressing the people present at the public meeting, Sheikh Hasina said that if someone tries to set the bus on fire, they will catch him and throw him into the fire. Let him understand how hot the fire is.

It is not power for me, but the country’s interests are important: Prime Minister

Before the rally, the Prime Minister inaugurated the newly constructed Ghorashal-Palash Urea Fertilizer Factory (GPUFF) at Narsingdi. It is the largest factory in Southeast Asia.

The Prime Minister said in the gathering on the occasion of the opening ceremony of the factory, “He could not come to power in 2001 because he did not give a guarantee for the sale of gas.” For me, the interests of the country are not important. Sheikh Mujib’s daughter does not suffer from such misery that she has to come to power by selling the country’s wealth.

Referring to the 2001 parliamentary elections, Sheikh Hasina said that there is no point in blaming only foreigners for the loss of that election. Some of our country’s intellectuals also stood up. Unspeakable torture was inflicted on our leaders and activists. As a result, we could not come to the government in that election.

Bangabandukanya said, ‘The US President came to our country. I was invited. Later when Latifur Rahman became the head of caretaker government, we were invited to his house. I and then general secretary Zillur Rahman from our party and Khaleda Zia and Mannan Bhuiyan from BNP. Jimmy Carter came there as an ambassador. Same offer this time too. I said the same thing. I said, I have to do a survey, meet the needs of the people of my country, have a reserve of fifty years, then I will think about selling the surplus gas.’

‘Bangabandhu’s daughter does not suffer from such wretchedness to come to power by selling the wealth of the country. I don’t have much power. Think once, if I agreed to sell gas that day, would we be able to make such a wonderful fertilizer factory today?’

But Khaleda Zia agreed. Right in front of my eyes, the then President of the United States came and clapped his hands on his back. Then I said to Zillur Rahman Sahib, uncle go now. What do I understand? But I didn’t care. Power is not big for me, the interests of the country are big. We left from there’ – said Sheikh Hasina.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the newly constructed Ghorashal-Palash Urea Fertilizer Factory (GPUFF) at Narsingdi today. It is the largest factory in Southeast Asia. This will help in significantly reducing the import of fertilizers.

Inauguration plaque of the factory

The Prime Minister inaugurated this eco-friendly, energy-efficient and modern technology-based factory with annual production capacity of nine lakh 24 thousand tons of fertilizer by unveiling the plaque at GPUFF premises in Palash upazila.

Officials said that the three-decade-old factory has been equipped with new state-of-the-art technology and proper training by foreign experts since the beginning of the project to run it smoothly. Construction of a railway line to connect the factory with Ghorashal railway station is in progress to facilitate transportation. After the inauguration, the Prime Minister visited the fertilizer factory.

The Prime Minister also released commemorative postage stamps, inaugural envelopes and a special seal marking the GPUFF inauguration day. A video documentary on the project was screened on the occasion.

Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun MP, State Minister Kamal Ahmed Majumdar MP, Anwarul Ashraf Khan MP and Senior Secretary Zakia Sultana were present at the time.

Dependence on import of fertilizers will decrease

Once the factory starts operations, the dependence on fertilizer import will be reduced significantly. Because, against the country’s total annual demand of 2.6 lakh tonnes, the local factories will simultaneously produce 19.24 lakh tonnes of fertilizer.

Local factories are currently producing about 1 million tonnes and the rest of the annual demand is met through imports. According to Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSIC), the factory will create 30,000 jobs. The factory built at a cost of Tk 15,500 crore on 110 acres of land will produce 2800 tonnes of fertilizer per day.

Out of the total expenditure, the government provided Tk 4,580.21 crore and received Tk 10.920 crore from JICA, HSBC and Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Limited through business loan scheme.

The plant’s two steam gas generators are capable of generating 32 MW of electricity and require 28 MW to run the plant. This is the first fertilizer plant in Bangladesh where the initial phase will extract pollutant materials from flue gas and increase the production of urea fertilizer using captured carbon-dioxide (about 10 percent).

It is a ‘state-of-the-art, energy efficient and green’ fertilizer plant in the country that will reduce imports of urea fertilizers and save hard-earned foreign exchange.

MAS