Who benefit and who lose?
Asia Energy is relentless in its persuasion that Bangladesh will only benefit from the coalmine. Appointed by Asia Energy, GHD, an international organization, prepared a report for the company. With the survey report in hand, Asia Energy claims that the benefits Bangladesh will get over 30 years of the mine’s lifetime is worth US$21 billion. Of this, US$7.8 billion would come as direct benefit and US$ 13.7 billion as indirect or multiplier benefits. The mine itself and the coal-fired plant for production of electricity will contribute one per cent per annum to the GDP of the country.
How dependable is this estimate of Asia Energy? Economist Prof. Anu Muhammad, a critic, has his answer. In an interview with Sangbad, a vernacular daily newspaper, he said: “This evaluation of the mine project is a kind of deception. It only shows how Bangladesh will benefit from the investment of Asia Energy and suppresses the extent of damage it would cause. This is actually a sham on Asia Energy’s part because it intends to cover up the questions about its activities that have already been raised.”
Open pit mining to extract coal is followed in many parts of the world. But there are hundreds of questions related to open pit mining and its consequences on environment in Bangladesh, one of the world’s most densely populated countries. Tension is at its pick in the mine area as regards the benefits and loses. At the national level, on the contrary, serious analysis and discussion about the coal policy, contract with Asia Energy and loss-benefit from the open pit mining is pitiful.
Both the government and the opposition, meaning the main political parties are supportive of the Phulbari Coal Project. It is indeed a bad news for the aggrieved people of the mine area. The inhabitants of the mine area complain that people living in other parts of the country do not realize their plight, nor do they foresee the disaster the open pit mining is likely to cause to this region.
It is not that Asia Energy does not talk about the damages to be caused by the open pit, but its assessment is highly questionable and controversial. The first major area of debate is the number of people to be displaced. The company says the mine would displace forty thousand people of some 100 villages and a portion in the east of Phulbari town. The local people reject this assessment of the company. Leaders of Phulbari Raksha (protection) Committee that was created on 17 June 2005, claim the actual number of people to be displaced and affected is much higher than the company’s estimates.
“We understand that about 150,000 people of the mine area will be directly affected and 200,000 to 250,000 would be affected indirectly,” said Md. Khurshid Alam Moti, a top leader of the Phulbari Raksha Committee. He is also the principal of Phulbari Women’s Degree College and chairman of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) in Phulbari. While in Dhaka both major parties [in power and in the opposition] support the open pit mining in Dianjpur, the local leaders of both parties are strongly opposed to the project.
“We heard there is a coal deposit in this area. But the people engaged by Asia Energy never let us know the method for mining would be open-cut that necessitates eviction and destruction of our houses, schools, colleges and all other establishments in the mine footprint. We do not want open pit mining. We, all, irrespective of party affiliations, are against it,” said Moti, extremely annoyed. “Our movement is for our existence. We will not go anywhere leaving behind our homes.”
The thought of open pit mining by evicting a hundred villages and thousands of people, destroying educational institutions and thousands of acres of cultivable land simply terrify and outrage the people of this area. Nima Banik, a lecturer at Phulbari Women’s Degree College says, “No matter wherever we are put, if we get evicted from our homes, we will lose our traditions, social bondage and businesses. These losses are beyond compensation. Moreover, we do not trust Asia Energy. Its estimate is unfounded.”
Dismissing the allegations of the local people, M. Anwarul Islam, Asia Energy’s general manager (environment and community) says, “We have always mentioned the idea of open pit. In Phulbari, there is no other option.” His claim: “We have changed our coal extraction plan to keep most of Eastern part of Phulbari Upazila town outside the mine. Consequently, we will extract 20 million ton less coal than our initial estimate. We take this measure to reduce the damage.”
According to the company all the damages will be compensated and the condition of the inhabitants of the mine area will be better than before. But none of the local people this writer spoke to believes in what the company proclaims. Their demand is clear: “We do not want open pit mining.” From June 2005 the Phulbari Raksha Committee has been organizing processions and meetings every Saturday in Phulbari in protest against it.
Asia Energy claims that Bangladesh has no risk in the Phulbari mine project. It does not have any investment headache as well. The company also claims that Bangladesh will receive half of the total profit accrued from the mining operation. The profit includes 6 percent royalty, 45 percent corporate tax and 2.5 percent import duty. The other gains of Bangladesh as the company mentions will be “a new source of energy for the country, a new commodity for export, new industries, employment opportunities, regional development, poverty alleviation, growth of nascent industry, new rail and port infrastructure.”
Professor Anu Muhammad refutes its claim: “The speculation of benefit and damage by the same company that would extract the coal is not dependable. Nor reliable are its reports of environmental and social impact assessment (EIA and SIA). The company admits that there will be damage, but then it gets lost in all the big talks.” His fear is: “It is Bangladesh where the coal has been found; and a foreign company will become its owner. There is no proper way to measure the actual benefit of Bangladesh and the price it would have to pay for it. What becomes clear is Bangladesh will have to buy its own coal from the company at an international price.”
We also do not hear much about some other important matters related to benefits and losses of the project. The quality of Phulbari coal is very high. As the company says, most of this 270 million year old coal will be exported. The coal deposit is huge and 25 percent of it is raw material for making steel. Its price will be much higher than the other types of coal. We are also in the dark about the market price of the coal and investors and other factors related to investments. There is no independent evaluation on these matters. Moreover, huge amounts of co-products such as clay, sand (raw material for glass), gravel, kaolin and water will be extracted from the mine. The company will own these co-products too. There is no discussion about what benefit Bangladesh will get out of these. |
