Environmental Articles Archive: Energy/Technology
Web version prepared by BCAS
June, 2008

More power cos in the pipeline
PDB to be planner, coordinator
Sharier Khan

After nearly 20 years of experimentation, the government's vaguely perceived donor-driven reforms in the power sector might take a final shape next year with the creation of three distribution and several power generation companies.

The new companies will be formed by separating parts of the Power Development Board (PDB), said a top power ministry source. 

The three distribution companies in formation are South Zone Power Distribution Company, Central Zone Power Distribution Company, and Northwest Zone Power Company, while the power generation companies will be based in each of PDB's power plant zones.

"This will be the ultimate reform measure for PDB as it will redefine the board's role as the power sector's main planner, coordinator and power purchaser," said a top ministry official. PDB might become the mother company of all the companies originated from it.

"PDB will then be based in Dhaka with its manpower restructured anew. The present PDB manpower will be absorbed by the new companies," the ministry official added.

Since the early nineties, PDB gave birth to seven different entities like Dhaka Electric Supply Authority (Desa), the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB), and the Electricity Generation Company of Bangladesh (EGCB). These companies were given PDB's assets and manpower with the mandate to carry out specific tasks like overseeing a power distribution area or a network. Currently the staff of PDB headquarters in Dhaka is 1,500 strong. 

The reform has become necessary because PDB's performance, as the sector's caretaker, nosedived in recent years. "The staff are not interested about modern training, they are interested in getting involved in procurement more than anything else," said a high official of the ministry adding, "PDB needs to be overhauled."

But to the PDB staff, the donor-driven reform plans, initiated in the early nineties, have always been incomplete and ill conceived which tried to label all government staff as either corrupt or inefficient. As those reforms ultimately failed to take shape, the government left PDB with inadequate staff and facilities, which has demoralised the organisation, affecting its performance. 

Responsible for the country's power generation, supply, and distribution, the board is presently equipped with 15,459 staff instead of 20,499 required according to its organogram. The board owns dozens of power units at 20 locations while it deals with private power plants at 11 more locations. 

"At the level of engineers, there are 227 posts vacant. How can one expect efficiency from a technical organisation like PDB, if there is a shortage of engineers? There is also a shortage of 131 managerial staff and so on," said a PDB official. 

But the power ministry looks at the manpower crisis differently. "The calculations are based on parameters defined back in the sixties. The context has changed. It's a world wide practice to employ one person for each megawatt of power produced. PDB has more than double the manpower it actually needs," said a ministry official.

He said with conviction, "The problem in PDB is not a lack of manpower, but a lack of quality manpower. For example the 100 megawatt Khulna Barge-mount Power Plant run by Summit has just 100 staff while a nearby 60 megawatt barge-mount plant of PDB employs a staggering 500 men."

He also said because of the lack of quality manpower, PDB is unable to absorb technologies from Chinese or Russian plants. "Can you believe that PDB still needs Chinese operators to run the Barapukuria and Raozan power plants, although these plants are 15 years and five years old by now? The Russian built Siddhirganj plant is a decade old now, but PDB still needs Russians to operate it. Then what kinds of services are being rendered by PDB?"

The official pointed out that the ministry has been pushing PDB to give a specification for a power plant simulator devise for the last six months. "But they are not interested in that kind of technology, so none came up with the specification."

The ministry official however admitted that a lack of regular recruitment has stagnated PDB's working environment. "There is no fresh face there. It's amazing that the executive engineers are over fifty, instead of forty. There is no regular promotion. This is demoralising indeed," he noted.

PDB officials blame the donor driven reform policy of the government for the declining performance of PDB. Those reform measures were separating a part of PDB to create Dhaka Electric Supply Authority (Desa) for improving efficiency. 

As the move failed, the donors pushed the government to create Dhaka Electric Supply Company (Desco) with only profitable billing zones, leaving unprofitable billing zones for Desa. Moreover, the donors have always tried to portray PDB as a loss incurring organisation. 

"The ideas of reform should be home grown. Instead of having a negative approach towards PDB, the government should pursue reforms with a positive attitude. It was PDB that groomed all the competent people in the power sector. It would have continued to do so, if the government kept the recruitment process alive and gave PDB a real autonomy," quipped an official of the board. 

Source: The Daily Star, June 28, 2008 

II Back II