Power Div to draw up plan to turn REB into company

FE Team | Published: September 26, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

M Azizur Rahman
The Power Division is thinking to draw up a plan to turn the Rural Electrification Board (REB) into a company for its capacity building and ensuring affordable and reliable electricity to all by the year 2020.
"We are looking into the issue seriously so that the entire country comes under electrification by REB within the set timeframe of the government," a senior Power Division official told the FE.
He said the REB is now plagued by local politics, which is hampering planned rural electrification badly.
A dearth of efficient leadership coupled with alleged corruption is eroding the REB's capacity considerably, it is alleged.
The REB was established in 1977, as a semi-autonomous government agency, aiming at ensuring rural electrification under the Rural Electrification Programme (REP).
The REB works closely with some 70 semi-autonomous bodies or electrification co-operatives named Palli Bidyut Samities (PBSs).
But the alleged corrupt practices in the PBSs are hindering the efficient operation of the REB, said sources.
Sources said the REB's structure was copied from the rural electrification process in the United States.
Since its inception the REB has received assistance from the National Rural Electric Co-operative Association (NRECA), financed by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
The NRECA in a recent presentation to the Power Division also underscored the need for turning the REB into a company to attain successes in future rural electrification.
The government's latest move to turn the REB into a company is a part of the government's power sector reform programme to help augment electricity generation substantially and distribute it to the user-ends in a cost-effective and efficient way, a senior official of the MPEMR said.
This objective aims to improve the performance and efficiency of the energy sector, thus enabling and promoting overall economic development.
As part of the government reform programme, the power division is now working for conversion of Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) into a holding company.
A good number of new power sector entities are also being constituted for decentralisation of works and for smooth functioning of the power sector.
Establishment of Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC), West Zone Power Distribution Company (WZPDC), North West Zone Power Distribution Company (NWZPDC), South Zone Power Distribution Company (SZPDC) and Electricity Generation Company of Bangladesh (EGCB) are the part of the government's power sector reform programme.
The government has adopted power sector financial restructuring and recovery plan to strengthen the financial status of the state-owned power sector entitles.