Tarique Rahman seeks Malaysian PM’s help in resolving gas crisis

Bangladesh Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has sought Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim’s help in resolving the ongoing gas crisis. He sought this cooperation in a phone conversation with the Malaysian Prime Minister on Tuesday (July 28) afternoon. Later, the Malaysian Prime Minister assured Bangladesh of cooperation in resolving the gas crisis after holding discussions with the relevant officials of his country.
State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Anindya Islam Amit gave this information while talking to reporters at his office at the Secretariat today.
The State Minister for Energy said, “FSRU (Floating LNG Terminal) may be a privately run facility or structure, through which we are regasifying imported LNG, but this is the people’s government. The people have given our Prime Minister the responsibility of running the state by voting for us. We feel this responsibility, we are trying our best to solve this problem because we have a responsibility to the people.’ He said, ‘Realizing the importance of the problem, the Prime Minister wrote a letter to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim yesterday (Monday), which was handed over to us today in Kuala Lumpur by our Education Advisor Mahdi Amin (who is on a visit to Malaysia). Today at 2 pm Bangladesh time, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman spoke to Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim over the phone. He sought his and his country’s cooperation in dealing with this energy crisis that has arisen in Bangladesh.’ Anindyo Islam Amit said, ‘Anwar Ibrahim has assured the Prime Minister that he will talk to his team and hold discussions as soon as possible.’ Inform the concerned ministry and the Prime Minister (Tariq Rahman). They (the Malaysian government) will respond quickly so that the suffering of the people of Bangladesh can be alleviated and the Malaysian and Malaysian governments can stand by them.’
He said, ‘I feel the need to give this message because this problem of the people, this suffering of the people is hurting us every moment and we sympathize with the suffering of the people of Bangladesh. We are speaking our minds, in some cases our suffering is even greater because the people have actually given us the responsibility to alleviate their suffering.’
The State Minister said that the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources is working day and night to resolve the crisis, ‘Just as other agencies of the energy department like Petrobangla and RPGCL are working day and night, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is also in touch with us about this incident every moment and is trying to do something on his behalf, if he can do anything. But we are not able to supply gas as per the demand. So the Prime Minister has sought help from the Prime Minister of Malaysia to reduce this crisis.’ Gap between demand and supply.
In response to a question, he said, ‘We are working on the opportunity to import LNG from Malaysia. “It’s a process issue. How quickly we can get through this process, whether there are any alternatives, where they can help us with their experience, advice or resources — anything is possible.”