Production halts due to gas crisis

After a shut-down of long 14 months due to gas crisis, the production in the Ashuganj Fertilizer Factory has stopped again after only 15 days of production resumption.

In last 15 months, the factory has been supplied gas only one month. Consequently, dependence on imported fertilizer has increased and the profitable factory has turned into a losing concern. A tense situation prevails among the workers and employees of the factory.

Factory sources said, 48-52 MMcf gas is required for keeping the factory in full operation. Bakhrabad Gas Distribution Company Limited (BGDCL) stopped supplying gas to the Ashuganj fertilizer factory on April 19 last year with an aim to keep power plants in the country in operation.

For this reason, the factory was shut down due to unavailability of gas. Later, the gas supply was resumed to the factory on June 13 this year in face of repeated human chains and demonstrations of the factory workers.

The production was restarted in the factory on July 2. But the BGDCL authorities again stopped the gas supply by a verbal direction on Thursday last after only one month. As a result, production has stopped again. In this regard, Ashuganj fertilizer factory CBA General Secretary Md Farid Uddin said that we have got the gas supply only one month in last 15 months.

Machineries worth crores of taka have been rusted due to the factory shut-down for a long period. Unrest prevails among workers and employees.

BCIC Director (Technical) Eng Md Ali Akkas said that despite the long shut-down of the factory, the supply of fertilizer has kept normal in seven districts under the command area of the fertilizer factory by importing fertilizer from abroad. The gas supply has been cut by an oral direction within one month resulting in the further shut-down of the factory.

Md Jalal Uddin, the president of district fertilizer association, said; 'The dependence of importing fertilizer will increase for removing crisis among dealers in seven districts under the fertilizer factory. Besides, question has been arisen about the standard of imported fertilizer'.

---Ashiqur Rahman Mito, Brahmanbaria