"Oil, Gas and Mineral Resources of Our Country Is the Blood Flown in Our Vein"

Monday, September 14, 2009

Interview with Professor Anu Muhammad

AUDITY FALGUNI

AFTER THE stern clashes between police and the demonstrators of the `National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports (NCPOGMPP) ' on September 2nd, around 50 student and youth activists of different left leaning groups and others were injured. Police launched lethal attack on the protestors who were marching forward to surround (gherao) the Petro-Bangla office protesting the recent cabinet committee approval on 24th August to lease three offshore gas fields to foreign companies. The protestors negated the government decision to award Ireland-based company Tallow Bangladesh shallow water block SS-O8-05 and US oil company Conoco Philipp’s South Asia New Ventures Ltd deep sea blocks DS-08-10 and 11 in the Bay of Bengal. They also raised the demand for the cancellation of around 12 'Production Sharing Contracts (PSCs)' of the Bangladesh government with different International Oil Companies (IOCs) and other relevant claims. Anu Muhammad, Professor of the Economics Department of Jahangir Nagar University and Member Secretary of NCPOGMPP got intensely hurt during the demonstration and was admitted to hospital. Here the excerpt of a brief interview with him is highlighted bellow:

Question: You are the member secretary of NCPOGMPP right at this moment. So, would you please tell us the particular cause behind the recent most demonstration staged by you on 2nd September?

Anu Muhammad: Demarcation of sea territory is one of the most glaring crises of Bangladesh. We have near about one Lakh sq km land boundaries with our neighbouring states. In terms of sea boundaries, the amount is just eight times higher. And, those sea regions are extremely potential in terms of mineral and other aquatic resources. Unfortunately, there are records of usurpation of these sea boundaries by neighbouring countries like India and Myanmar. There are three gas blocks in the Bay of Bengal namely block numbers 5, 10 & 11. Two PSCs were signed at first phase of 2008 during the Caretaker government regime. Under the auspices of these two PSCs, one Ireland based IOCs namely CONOCO-PHILLIPS and another U.S. based IOC named TALLOW were given lease for oil and gas exploration in the Bay of Bengal. When the caretaker government signed the agreement, we protested vehemently and the government could not implement it. This year the newly elected government has approved the PSCs. The cabinet committee of 'Economic Affairs' has okayed those on 24th August and so we called on for the demonstration on 2nd September. Meantime, our successive governments have signed 12 PSCs with different IOCs in recent years. These PSCs have conferred upon them ownership of around 80 percent of total gas explored and the rest 20 percent lies with our nationalized institutions like BAPEX and Petro-Bangla. These multi-national oil giants deal with or regulate our 12 major gas fields in the Sylhet region. If you look at the atlas of Bangladesh and dissect it into east and west, you would notice that most of the oil fields are located at the eastern side or particularly in Sylhet. Now, the multi-national oil giants earn around 3,000 crore taka from these 12 gas fields. If we could spend just one-tenth of this 3,000 crore take to reshape and strengthen our nationalized oil and gas exploration institutions like BAPEX or Petro-Bangla, we did not need to depend any longer on foreigner consultants and imported machineries! Just imagine that because of irresponsibility and malfunctioning by two multi-national oil & gas companies namely Occidental in Magurchara, Sylhet during 1997 and NAIKO in Tengratila, Sylhet during 2006...around 500 billion cubic feet gas were simply burnt out or wasted! Around 87.50 acres of land in Magurchara were damaged with 176.97 crore taka losses in total. NAIKO drilled in the gas wells earlier declared by Petro-Bangla as unworthy for exploration purpose and caused the disaster. We owe to these two oil giants around 20,000 crore taka. Recently James F Moriarty, the U.S. Ambassador to Bangladesh, mentioned in a speech that U.S. oil giant company Chevron wants to develop Bangladesh through investing in oil and gas exploration, but the government can do nothing for certain quarters. Probably he mentioned us, the leftists! We say in return that honourable Ambassador, first pay us 20,000 crore taka compensation for the Magurchara and Tengratila blow-outs! This year the total budget allotted in the power and energy sector has been 4,400 crore taka. Compensation properly paid for the two blow-outs can fulfill our budget in energy sector for next five fiscal years.

Question: When the movement by NCPOGMPP first commenced and what are your major achievements since the formation of the committee?

Anu Muhammad: NCPOGMPP was established in 1998 and thus it has already completed 11 years' of its journey. I would mention our major achievements one by one. In 1998, when the Awami League (AL) government was in power, the government was initiating to sign and conclude two agreements with the IOCs. The first agreement related to leasing of the Chittagong port to a U.S. Company for 199 years. We then organized a long march from Dhaka to Chittagong port and it largely owes to our movement that government could not avoid to probe in details into the company and then some major loopholes came out. The so-called U.S. Company first told our government that they have the paid-up capital of some thousand crores of taka but later it was found that they have the paid-up capital of only one crore taka. Again, it was not even a U.S.A.-based company and it was actually based in Barbados. What is most important that even if it was a U.S.A.-based company, no patriot should agree to lease out of any of his country's sea port for 199 years! The then Sheikh Hasina government yielded to our movement and the lease agreement, which was on the verge of being finalized, got cancelled. Second, two IOCs...the U.K.-based oil & gas exploration company Shell and the U.S.-based company UNOCOL drafted the design of installation of pipe-line from one of our pertinent gas field Bibyana, Sylhet to Delhi and the designing and lay-out were disbursed on web-site. But, the government was yet to finalize the proposal for gas export. A section of 'hired' consultants, bureaucrats, businessmen, media, U.S. Embassy, Indian High Commission, World Bank and ADB began stipulating Bangladesh is "floating on gas" and it was "best time to export gas." And, if Bangladesh misses the chance, later she might not get handsome price in ever-changing international market. They, in addition, opined that Bangladesh can construct her basic infrastructure including necessary components like education or health sector with the money obtained from gas export. NCPOGMPP then had to wage war at two levels. First, we had to theoretically challenge this propaganda by making people aware about the exact situation of real gas reserve scenario of Bangladesh, dynamics of internal use and demand etc. The IOCs exaggerated that Bangladesh had 100 trillion cubic feet of gas while we had only 12-13 trillion cubic feet of gas reserve in reality...in last several years the amount has reduced to seven to eight trillion cubic feet of gas reserve for internal use. Also, domestic need for gas has been multiplied four or five times in recent years. So, gas export could really doom us! Today the facility of CNG transport could not be availed off if we agreed to export gas. We proved, in addition, with facts and figure that even if we could earn around 1,000 crore taka in total by exporting our gas, we had to buy equivalent amount of oil or petroleum from foreign countries to fill-up the gap. In that case, we had to spend around 15-20,000 crore taka per year. So, NCPOGMPP mobilized people for another long march towards Dhaka-Bibyana, Sylhet. Thus, AL government could not sign the agreements with Shell and UNOCOL. BNP succeeded the AL government in 2001 and they also began playing on the same tune reciting there is no worth of keeping gas under earth. What we should do is to export it and earn money. But, we were firm on our movement and people stood on behalf of us. So, BNP government also failed like its predecessor.

Question: NCPOGMPP has also waged a war on the issue of Fulbari coal mine. Would you elaborate on it?

Anu Muhammad: Sure, that is another landmark of success. The then BNP government came to an agreement with the Asia Energy (AE) company validating the open pit mining in around 135 sq km area of Fulbari, close to the Bara Pukuria coal plant of Dinajpur district. If this agreement was implemented, around 10,000 hectares land of the adjacent areas including Nawabganj, Birampur and Parbatipur Upazila were to be damaged at initial stage. Near about 656.33 sq km area was to be directly damaged. Installation of the physical infra-structure of the proposed coal mine by AE was supposed to commit eviction, damage and destruction of approximately 10,000 human habitats, factories, schools, colleges, religious institutions, railways, highways, vegetation, water reservoirs like ponds, canals and rivers. AE itself revealed that if the agreement was to be implemented, Bangladesh government was supposed to get from AE around 45,000 crore taka in 30 years while they were supposed to obtain 1,50,000 crore taka from us in the same time-frame. Fulbari is a densely populated area with several Bengali and Shantal indigenous villages, their arable lands, trees and water reservoirs. If we go for counting the environmental damage in terms of eco-system and symbioses within nature, you cannot simply evaluate the extent of damage in money. So, on 26th August of 2006 the activists of NCPOGMPP and local people went to surround the AE office in Fulbari and police fired on unarmed people. Three were died, one became permanently disabled and around 300 people were injured. The government signed a three-point demand treaty with us in Parbatipur, Dinajpur on 30th August. The government, however, only implemented some portion of the treaty but our number one demand to evict AE from Fulbaria on an emergency is yet to be fulfilled.

Question: NCPOGMPP has called upon to surround the PM's office on 10th September? What would be your major agendas for this immediate programme?

Anu Muhammad: Our four most urgent demands are cancellation of the PSC model 2008 for the gas fields in the Bay of Bengal which leased out two gas blocks to two multi-national oil giants, cancellation of existing 12 PSCs and re-modeling of them with hundred percent ownership of our national institutions like BAPEX and Petro-Bangla over the explored gas, proper demarcation of sea boundaries and to evict Asia Energy (AE) from Fulbari, Dinajpur and cancel open-pit mining.

Question: Would you involve the major opposition BNP along with you? Leader of the Opposition Begum Khaleda Zia has visited you in the hospital and mentioned she would be with this movement. So, what is your consideration now?

Anu Muhammad: No. The AL, BNP and the 'neutral' care-taker government manifested their willingness to export gas on a regular basis. In Latin American countries like Venezuela, Bolivia or Chile the IOCs did not pay any profit to the respective governments on the pretext of failing to 'recover the production or exploration costs.' The IOCs have drilled for more than 20 years in Chile and drilled a lot of their mineral resources but yet to pay any dividend saying that they could not yet recover their exploration costs. Thus the whole lot might turn into a deception for the poorer states. Hugo Chavez and other Latin American leaders are now fighting this issue. Amar desh er tel gas amar deher rakta! Oil, Gas and Mineral Resources of our country is the blood flown in our vein and we would simply die out if we cannot protect those. #

Bangladesh: Sovereign Or Subsidiary?

Countercurrents.org, 17 April, 2007

'World Capitalism (Bangladesh) Ltd', this was the title of an article that I wrote 17 years ago to theorize the location of Bangladesh in world capitalist system drawing parallel with the structural setting of multinationals around the world. Multinational Corporations are the institutional face of International monopoly capital, do their business around the world with their subsidiaries. Subsidiaries may have autonomy but that do work under global plan and strategy of the corporate centre or principal. What I wanted to show that the status of the peripheral countries like Bangladesh were gradually turning into mere subsidiaries in global capitalist system.

In the last 17 years global and local equations proceeded through simultaneous solving and confronting new variables. GATT (General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade) agreement opened up the globe for the stronger Capital. Land, water, air, surface and underground resources located in the third world or peripheral countries have become increasing target of profit making venture. Invisible Capital and its visible fists do not accept the right of the people and the nations over their own resources, even over their own lives. Therefore the concept of common property is redundant, concept of human rights in real terms also was marginalized. Essence of the global lords' vision is to maximize profit by grabbing resources around the world. Media, experts, consultants, civil society, military, bureaucracy, and politicians have always been under projects of scrutiny, marginalizing or bribing, moulding and twisting.

II

In this setting strategically important geographical location is a curse of a weak country, so do its natural resources, if the ruling class does not represent its own people. For capital, countries like Bangladesh are not considered as country per se, it is just a region for investment. Sovereignty, therefore, is an ornament in the model. Neoclassical economics, favourite ideology of the corporates, believe that there is nothing exists to be called national or interest. Everything is individual. But who are these individuals? Nobody except capital can have any individuality when capital rules. In its hegemony it gives first lesson to everybody: look at the world through the eyes of capital, so much you see in that way, you may have a better future for yourself. All individuals become one; the capital, the corporation, everything is for sale. Long term is nothing, as Keynes gave the sermon: in the long run we are all dead. But what about our future generations? Forget them. What about people around me? Don't give a damn. Make money by selling everything, first your conscience!

III

Bangladesh had parliaments, had development programmes. However, these never interacted. Major economic decisions, those shape the direction of Bangladesh, have never been discussed in parliament. The last GATT round that effectively opened Bangladesh for global capital has been unknown to law makers and even bureaucrats till date. The production sharing contracts (PSCs) signed on country's natural resources, which took away resources from the people of Bangladesh to be handed over to multinational companies, were not discussed in the parliament. The contracts on coal and natural gas have been kept secret till today, even parliamentary standing committee did not dare insist to have a look at those. Bangladesh has eventually abandoned its development planning in order to give space to the so called poverty reduction strategy paper (PRSP), a vicious commodity marketed by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, that was initiated to absolutize their control over policy making process of these countries. Ironically planning ministry still exists. The PRSP, that has become the 'economic constitution' of Bangladesh, was never brought in the parliament to be discussed. Global institutions, the World Bank- IMF-ADB etc, wrongly called donors, have gathered enough maturity for lobbying and getting their 'good guys' (ministers, bureaurocrats...) in policy making to legitimize everything they want. Their agenda is simple: privatize everything, Bank, Port, Gas, Coal, Water, Forest, Hospitals, Educational institutions to give business and authority to big companies.

The people are happy to see the present caretaker government express its commitment to uproot corruption, irregularities and injustice. It has brought some big looters under legal scrutiny and is working to make institutions work in some cases. Will it keep highly corrupt and disastrous deals like Phulbari coal project to continue then? Will it allow foreign companies, lobbying agencies and bigger plunderers to grab our own resources, to have command over our own territory after making the commitment to serve people's interest?

IV

'Are we recolonised?'

A friend of mine, an activist of the country, asked me a few hours after President, Iajuddin Ahmed, proclaimed the state of emergency on 11 January 2007.

'We have been in the colonial power frame, how can we be re-colonised? What is the big deal?'

I replied reluctantly.

His enthusiasm did not recede. He said,

'But you see, I know global imperialism controls everything in our country. They protect and promote parties, groups those are convenient to retain their imperial control. Now they are not in supporting stage they are now trying to be in acting mode. Don't you find this is significantly different?'

V

My friend, who is an expert in International Relations rushed to my place and said,

'What is happening? Don't you think we are entering into a new phase of governance?'

'Why?' I asked curiously.

'Because it is a coup with difference. It is coup conceived by civil society on behalf of global corporate power represented by 'Big apa' (US ambassador) and allies implemented with the help of coercive power.' She tried to explain.

'But these global corporates have everything in their hands, both the allies have been competing with each other to offer more and more service they have been asking for. So, why they need a different set up?'

I tried to draw her attention to the ground reality.

Nevertheless, she insisted,

'But the old set up was not working and moreover don't you think they need more?'

'You see, all the thugs and plunderers who looted peoples money, and sold our country to the foreigners are on the run. I feel happy to see that', I continued with enthusiasm.

'But the policies of those goons continue. Moreover are you sure the bigger fish is not behind?'

VI

My friend working with a network campaign against corporate and IFIs (World Bank and IMF) crime phoned me after one month, 'is your country turning into Afghanistan?'

'It cannot be' I said. 'We do not have Talibans like Afghanistan; moreover we have far more developed institutions to resist that kind of thing. We have people...'

She seemed annoyed and said, 'I know how Talibans grew and how they were used as excuses. I am talking about Hamid Karzai model. Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq....'

'Why?' I was naive.

'Can't you understand that the ex officials from World Bank or global agencies or big businesspersons can be as good as an ex official from UNOCAL. They are of the same generic code.'

'We are looking for a difference.' I said.

VII

'Who is Dr. Yunus'? Asked non-residential Bangladeshi friend from Sweden at the end of February.

I was surprised, however, replied, 'he won Nobel peace prize and made Bangladesh known to the world.'

He seemed impatient, said, 'I know that. But don't you see that he seems to behave like public relations officer or, if you put it in better way, a lobbyist of global corporate groups?'

'He loves business. He is highly successful in ideas, innovation in business indeed. He deserved Nobel Prize much before for that. He wants to turn everybody in the country a successful businessman or woman.'

'But not as entrepreneur but as nat boltu (nuts and bolts). I know he loves rhetoric too, as he says, " our youth are the most brilliant in the world", but he cannot rely on our youth to take charge of our own port or develop our own mineral resources. He finds only western big companies suitable for that. He says, "the hurdles on the way should be removed" we find he means to remove hurdles for global companies to grab our resources and sectors, he says " amrao pari [we can]", here amra means clique favouring big companies and pari means to give away own resources in favour of global plunderers like Nigeria or Argentina in the 1990s.'

'It seems that he is determined to play a leading role in governance.'

VIII

Global capital is in confrontation with people all over the world, among others, on three issues: (a) whether people and the country should own and have authority over their own lives and natural resources or global corporates should be allowed to take over; (b) Whether natural resources should be used or preserved for the maximum utilization for the development of the country or to be extracted in a big way to maximize profit of foreign big companies; and (c) whether resources will remain common property or turned into private property of corporates. Bangladesh needs to answer these too. People in general and Phulbari in particular and many experts opine in favour of utilizing resources for people as common property. Their verdict is simple: we need our limited resources badly for our own development; we cannot let that to be plundered by leaving disaster for us.

IX

We need to free the country from corrupt and criminals; to sustain that we need to change the policy framework that create and recreate power of corrupts; to make that meaningful we need to make our country belong to our people. Whether Bangladesh will be reduced permanently to the status of a subsidiary company in world capitalist arrangement or will act as a sovereign nation depends now mostly on the rulers who are in the driving seat and have to make the choice. We are also living under US regime of global terror.

The crucial question therefore remains to be answered, whom our rulers would like to represent: people of this country or global corporate and terrorist power that lives on corrupts and criminals? This is an acid test indeed.

Development Or Destruction

The world today is more militarized, more monopolized and therefore more vulnerable for the people and environment around the globe. While US led war of terror has been causing more uncertainty, fear and regimentation in every part of the world, corporate power find the atmosphere more compatible for grabbing land, mines and economies with neo liberal (i.e., neo conservative) ideology. Development projects of the 'development' agencies like the World Bank, IMF and the ADB in various countries show how these agencies work on behalf of big corporations and global capital harming development potential and peoples lives and livelihoods, turning so called development projects into projects of mass destruction.