United News of Bangladesh

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Sunday directed the authorities concerned to expedite two major waste-to-energy projects for Dhaka, saying the schemes must be implemented on time using the best available environment-friendly technology. He gave the directive at a meeting on the proposed projects for Aminbazar under Dhaka North City Corporation and Matuail under Dhaka South City Corporation, held at the Cabinet Division conference room at the Bangladesh Secretariat. At the meeting, officials said China's China Machinery Engineering Corporation (CMEC Group) will invest in a waste-to-energy power plant at Aminbazar, which will process around 3,000 tonnes of municipal waste a day to generate 42.5 megawatts of electricity. The plant is expected to begin supplying electricity to the national grid by August 2028 and continue generating power for the next 25 years. Officials also briefed the Prime Minister on a second project to be implemented by South Korea's B&F Group at Matuail. The project will convert municipal waste into methane gas to produce about 81,000 megawatt-hours of electricity annually, equivalent to around 221 megawatt-hours a day. It will also produce solar power, organic fertiliser, animal feed and eco-friendly bricks while processing between 3,000 and 3,500 tonnes of waste daily. Officials said the project will improve waste management and contribute to climate change mitigation and efforts to reduce global warming. To ensure the timely implementation of both projects, the Prime Minister instructed the local government, power and environment ministries to hold an inter-ministerial meeting. He also stressed completing both projects within the stipulated timeframe and ensuring the best use of environment-friendly technology. Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, State Minister Mir Shahe Alam, Dhaka North City Corporation Administrator M Safiqul Islam Khan, Dhaka South City Corporation Administrator Abdus Salam, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister ABM Abdus Sattar, Prime Minister's Additional Press Secretary Atikur Rahman Rumon and other senior officials attended the meeting.

As city authorities are struggling to catch up with the growing waste management problem, the government is trying to handle it shifting its focus on waste-to-energy projects, but the projects taken so far failed to make any breakthrough. Two much-sought waste-to-energy projects – one in Dhaka and another in Narayanganj – could not start the ground work even after getting the approval from the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase a year ago. Dhaka, the national capital that generates some 6,000 tons of garbage every day, is expected to see a sea change in garbage disposal once the proposed waste-to-energy plant at Aminbazar could be implemented. Also read: Cabinet purchase body nods 42.5MW waste to energy power project The 42.5MW Aminbazar project, aimed at using the garbage of Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), got the clearance from the committee on November 12, 2020 while the 6MW plant received its nod on September 16, 2020 to be set up at Jalkuri, Narayanganj.