Govt won’t be held hostage by any power plant: CA’s press secretary
Published :
Updated :
For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
The government will not be held hostage by any individual power plant no matter how powerful it is, said Shafiqul Alam, press secretary to the chief adviser of Bangladesh’s interim government, on Sunday.
“We are dismayed and shocked,” he told a press briefing at Foreign Service Academy in Dhaka in reply to a query on Adani Group's statement that the company would halt power supply to Bangladesh if their arrest was not cleared by November 7.
However, he said the power ministry had not yet received such correspondence from the Indian conglomerate.
He pointed out that the dues to Adani, amounting to $700 million, were created by the previous dictator as they did not pay the bill in time month after month.
“The government is committed to paying the dues of the Adani Group,” Mr Shafiq said adding that recently the government paid the company $97 million.
Responding to a question on the recent attacks on the Jatiya Party office, Asad Mazumder, deputy press secretary to the CA, said that the government condemns all kinds of political violence.
He also mentioned that no decision on banning the JP was taken yet as this is a political issue.
“Such decisions will be taken only after consultation with the political parties through consensus,” he added.
Regarding the attack by a group of people on Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said that the government ordered a probe into the incident as it condemned all kinds of violence.
Responding to a question, the press secretary said, “Bringing back the repatriated money is one of the top priorities of the government and maximum efforts are being made in this regard.”
He mentioned, “The government is in discussions with the FBA to bring back the laundered money and the government also sought the cooperation of the USA, UK and the Swiss government in this regard.”
“Even during his meeting with the world leaders in New York, Dr Yunus highlighted this issue,” Shafiqul Alam added.
Responding to another question, he said that the government recognised the great contribution of the four national leaders, Tajuddin Ahmed, Syed Nazrul Islam, Captain Manson Ali, and Md Kamruzzaman, who were killed in jail on November 3 in 1975.
“The last government tried to ignore their contributions to create a personality cult for only one person,” the press secretary added.