Face any situation boldly, PM urges countrymen

She opens Southeast Asia's largest fertiliser factory in Narsingdi

FE Team | Published: November 13, 2023 00:05:56

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday urged the people to boldly face any situation saying that Bangladesh would surely overcome manmade disasters like arson violence, reports UNB.
"We will take Bangladesh forward, surely overcoming manmade disasters like arson violence as we face the natural disasters. I would like to tell the countrymen to boldly face any situation," she said.
The premier was addressing the inaugural ceremony of the Ghorashal-Palash Urea Fertilizer Factory (GPUFF) - the largest of its kind in Southeast Asia - in Narsingdi.
She said Bangladesh will move forward as commodity price hike has emerged due to external factors like wars, economic sanctions and global inflation.
She once again called upon the people not to leave even a single inch of land uncultivated to ensure Bangladesh would never need to beg anyone for food.
She said Bangladesh today is a developing country, which would move forward further and be Smart Bangladesh, having a smart population, smart government, smart economy and smart society.
"Bangladesh faced repeated obstacles in its development journey, but none could stop its progress."None would be able to stop this progress of Bangladesh anymore," she added.
She said the Awami League refused a foreign proposal to sell gas abroad before the 2001 generation election that caused her party's defeat in the election.
But BNP leader Khaleda Zia agreed to it and won the vote, she said.
The Prime Minister said had she yielded to the pressure that day Bangladesh would not have seem such an excellent fertiliser factory today.
A number of farmers were killed during the BNP regime as they had agitated demanding fertilisers in different places including Gaibandha and Tangail, she added.
The premier said no shortage of urea fertiliser was seen anywhere in the country in the last 15 years thanks to its uninterrupted distribution and import of this fertiliser. "Now there is an enough stock of fertilisers in the country," she said.
Mentioning that the cornerstone of the country's foreign policy is 'Friendship to All, Malice towards None,' she said this newly built fertiliser factory is an example of the foreign policy as friendly countries assisted Bangladesh to construct the large factory.
She said this factory will reduce the country's dependency on fertiliser imports and create jobs.
The annual production capacity of the environmentally-friendly and modern fertiliser factory is some one million tonnes, capable of producing 2,800 tonnes of urea daily.
Now the local demand for urea fertiliser is some 26 lakh tonnes annually. If this newly-built plant goes in full swing production, some 20 lakh tonnes of urea will be produced yearly in the country.
So, the factory will play a leading role in meeting the growing demand of urea fertiliser, ensuring supply of fertilisers to farmers at affordable prices, saving foreign currency by reducing imports and creating employment opportunities.
Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) has implemented the 'Ghorashal Polash Urea Fertilizer Project' on 110 acres of land at a cost of around Tk 155 billion (Tk15,500 crore). The construction work for the project began on March 10, 2020.
The prime minister released a commemorative postage stamp, marking the inauguration of the country's largest fertiliser factory.
Earlier, Sheikh Hasina inspected the large urea fertiliser factory.
Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun, State Minister for Industries Kamal Ahmed Mojumder, Narsingdi-2 MP Anwarul Ashraf Khan and Industries Secretary Zakia Sultana, among others, spoke at the inaugural ceremony.