Sustainable development
Production and use of friendly energies in the southern countries and related issues on poverty reduction.

 

High strand of civilization largely depends on abundant supply of chief and harmless energies. The sources of production of energy are coal, oil, gas, water, wind and sun-ray. The reservation of coal and oil has become limited by this time. One day may come when reservation of gas also would be limited. The existence of water, sun-ray and wind would remain unlimited. The lifting of coal from mines and its use for production of electricity is not safe to the mine-workers as well as to the humanity. Its use emits huge carbon dioxide, methane, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, dust and other pollutants associated with combustion. Use of wind and sun-ray has not so far been adopted widely. In course of time, when the reservation of coal, oil and gas will be exhausted, people would turn to the use of wind power and sun-ray as well. The advantages of hydro-system are manifold.  It has no cost of fuel. Its production, reservation and use do not emit carbon dioxide, methane, sulfur, dioxide, nitrogen oxide, dust and other pollutants as emitted by the use of fossil fuels. The life- time of hydroelectric plants and turbines is much longer than that of the machineries of other types of electricity producing plants. The cost of operation is also minimum.

The first hydro-electric power plant was set up at Niagara in Canada. However, the use of water power has since been adopted extensively and intensively by the countries in the northern hemisphere namely, the United States America, Canada, Russia, Norway, Rumania, Austria and France. Japan, China, Brazil and India have also adopted it. But most of the southern countries are behind it though they have natural facilities for setting up hydro-electric plants. They should come forward to study the existing hydro-facilities in their countries and to start to set up hydro-electric power plants wherever it is feasible.

Bangladesh Model.

Bangladesh is a heavily rain-fed country. Over ad above, most of the water of the Himalayas, Bhutan, Nepal and India falls to the Bay of Bay of Bengal through Bangladesh. But this water does not fall to the Bay of Bengal through certain rivers and canals. It goes out almost through the entire surface of Bangladesh during the rainy season.  Resultantly, floods occur and the country-side including the roads and highs go under water.  But during dry season water is not available for irrigation and fisheries. The country has gas resources. But due to flood and lack of good roads gas facilities can not be extended to the people. There are many lakes (locally named haor) in the country. These are lying half dead and almost unutilized. These lakes can easily be used as water reservoirs for hydro-electricity plants, irrigation and fisheries. For extending gas facilities to the people, for using the water resources of the country and to make the agricultural land cultivable throughout the year to cultivate crops in all seasons, the works of flood control should be given first priority. The banks of lakes, rivers and canals should be made high and wide enough for hydrological, habitat and gas extension facilities. New gravitation canals from Indian border to the Bay of Bengal should be dug. Low lands on both sides of canals and rivers should be turned to lakes for water reservation, fisheries, production of hydro-electricity and irrigation. At convenient places of the rivers, dams should be built and hydro-electric plants set up.  Sluice gates and small hydro-electric plants may be set up on the canals. The sea shore and the islands in the sea may also be developed for protecting their inhabitants from the attack of cyclone and tsunami through excavation of fish lakes on the sea shore with high embankments around them. Wind and solar plants and housing colonies may be built on the embankments. Low  lands between the hills in the Chittagong Hill Tracts may be turned to lakes  by building  dams between hills for electricity production and fisheries.

The plan of operation of the above mentioned programs is given bellow:-

I. FLOOD CONTROL IN BANGLADESH:

Regarding flood control in Bangladesh recently various circles have suggested for dredging the rivers in the country. But I differ with them for the following reasons:

1. Most of the water of Nepal, Himalayas and India passes through Bangladesh. But the high lands of India, Nepal and the surface of the Himalaya are now being cultivated. As a result there is heavy soil erosion in these areas and heavy silting in the rivers of Bangladesh; the dredged place is immediately leveled due to heavy silting of colossal soils drained from the Himalayas, Nepal and India. So it is futile to start dredging in the
rivers of Bangladesh. The rivers have become almost useless. So it is imperative to find out alternative ways for draining out the water.

2. If at all dredging is adopted, a huge number of dredgers will be required. But Bangladesh is unable to purchase these dredgers even on credit.

3. Bangladesh has no patrol of her own. If the dredgers are procured through some unknown ways, Bangladesh would not be financially able to purchase the colossal quantity of patrol that would be required for operating the required number of dredgers.

4. Dredger drivers generally keep the meters disordered and manipulate in the maintenance of accounts of consumption of patrol. Usually around 20% of fuel is utilized in actual operation and the rest is misappropriated. As dredging is a sub-water work, it is not possible to check up whether the work has actually been done or not. Under the above circumstances, it is not feasible to make flood control in Bangladesh with dredgers. As Bangladesh has no money of its own to finance its flood control works in the traditional ways, I would suggest adopting flood control measures commercially in a different way. Like the Manhattan Avenues in New York, a number of north-south canals may be dug straight from the northern border of Bangladesh to the south sea (Bay of Bengal) and
re-excavate the existing canals diverting their flow towards the south with rubber dams at various places for reservation of water for irrigation during the dry season. With the soil of the canals, raised housing plots on both the banks of the canals may be prepared like the housing plots in the city of Venice. Half of the plots may be given to the owners of land as compensation and the remaining half sold to meet digging cost. Alternately khas lands may be allotted to the persons whose land would be acquired. If khas land is not available in their locality, distant khas land may be allotted to them to the extent of their satisfaction so that they can purchase same space of land near their locality selling the allotted khas land. In order to raise the price of the plots, the following measures may
be taken:

1. Gas, electric, and water lines may be set up through the housing areas.

2. Housing loans at concession may be given only for construction of houses
on the banks of these canals.

3. Confessional commercial and industrial loans may be given to those who
would select their sites on the banks of these canals.

4. Free education and training may be allowed only to the inhabitants on the
banks of the canals.

5. Others.

Like the silting in the rivers, silting is bound to be in the bed of the
canals also; if some counter actions are not taken. For this purpose the
following measures may be taken :

In order to disturb the silting in the bed of the canals, fishery department
may establish a number of fish nurseries and fish ponds in the low lands
beside the canals and roads and let loose the fishes in these canals during
the rainy season and carry on sub-water ground fishing with ground nets by
speed boats in the canals during the period of strong currents so that the
silting is carried away by the currents into the Bay of Bengal. Ground
fishing by hand and other ways may also be allowed. Country boat
transportation with poles may be introduced. Angling and other surface
fishing should be prohibited.

In spite of the adoption of the anti-silting measures, if silting is found
somewhere in a canal, fishing of that place may be sold to fishermen by
closing the sluice gates/rubber dams from two sides. The fishermen would pump
out the water and catch the fish. After the fishing is over, the soil of the
canal may be sold to the inhabitants on both sides of the canals. Thus
silting would be removed not only without cost; but also some revenue would
be earned by the canal authority in this process.

Canals would not only drain out national and international excess water, the
project would also be able to create millions of cheap housing plots with
urban facilities for our people whose number may reach 150 million by 2000
A.D. At present most of our people live scattered in water in villages in
unhygienic conditions. It is not possible to extend gas, electric and water
line connections in all scattered flooded areas with economic justification.
With the construction of canal-housing-areas, if present state facilities
are closed in the scattered areas, the present facilities transferred to the
canal areas and social securities given for the persons living in the canal
areas only, the people themselves would shift to the canal areas. At present
much of our crop fields are wasted for building new home stead and new
ponds. Much of the crop fields is also wasted for construction of very high
roads above the flood marks with lakes on both sides. Such wastage of land
would be stopped if a network of south-faced canals is established. As there
would not be much water in the fields within the canal areas during the
rainy season, construction of high roads and high home steads would not be
required.

At present in many crop-fields, cultivators are not getting even one crop if
their crops are destroyed by early floods. If flood control measures are
adopted in the above way and rubber dams are established, cultivators would
be able to cultivate their land at a low cost throughout the year and get
three crops. At present they are harvesting 60 to 100 mounds of food grains
per acre from one high yielding crop if not destroyed by floods. What would
be the quantity of three crops, if they can safely harvest three crops
annually? At present scarcity of labor occurs for cultivating even 20% of
our land during the dry season. After flood control, if our entire land is
cultivated throughout the year, no body in the country would remain
unemployed; rather there would be a severe scarcity of labor. In that case
like the Arabian countries and Malaysia, Bangladesh would need to import
manpower from abroad, not only for cultivation, but also for processing,
finishing and marketing the produces.

Flood water brings huge soil into Bangladesh. If this soil is driven out in
the ways suggested above and preserved near the sea-shore through intensive
forestation on the sea shore and the islands in the Bay of Bengal, there
would be formation of vast new lands in a few years. If trees or branches of
trees mixed with jute fiber are dropped under water at desirable places near
sea-shore or near islands, formation of new islands or extension of existing
islands would be very quick.

When the water flown from out side the country, carries mud, the sluice
gates may be kept open for few hours for inundation and fertilization of
land in order to avoid use of chemical fertilizers.

At present most of the mills and factories in Bangladesh are run with
imported raw material. The country is short of foreign exchange. So it is
not possible to ensure regular supply of raw material required by our
industry. If raw materials are imported, the mills and factories operate.
When it is not possible to import the raw materials, they do not operate.
Under such circumstances, it is not possible to accelerate industrialization
in the country. We do not have mineral resources. So we will have to produce
sufficient quantity of raw materials in our agricultural lands. In the
absence of flood control, we cannot form our industrial policy, because we
do not know what sort of raw materials our land would produce after flood
control. Our land is very fertile. The climate is such that various crops
can be produced throughout the year. So it is expected that after flood
control our land would produce abundant quantity of various raw materials
including cotton and we would be able to determine our industrial policy
accordingly. Many industries countries developed their agriculture first
for production of raw materials and thereafter adopted the policy of
acceleration of their industrial development. So first of all we are badly
in need of flood control for our agricultural development.

Government may sell some of the state properties and setup a revolving fund
with the sales proceeds for implementation of the program. Friendly
countries like USA and Saudi Arabia and international organizations like UNO
and OIC may also be approached for formation of the fund. A canal force like
work-brigades may be formed with the help of the army with new recruitees
and separable soldiers to minimize the cost of flood control and irrigation.

II. CYCOLE CONTROL IN BANGLADESH:

Catastrophes are caused in Bangladesh by repeated cyclones. But no effective measure has so far been taken to control their horrible forces. Though the pacific island countries are open from all sides to the attack of cyclones in  catastrophic scales. In those countries, the forces of cyclones have been controlled through afforestation and other measures. Cyclones in Bangladesh can be encountered through afforestation and creation of articicial fish lakes in coastal areas and around the islands in the Bay of Bengal.

Forest grows in natural ways at those places where people do not live. It does not grow in populated areas in spite of human efforts. The Forest office of Bangladesh spends huge amounts every year for afforestation in populated areas and on roadsides. But their efforts have not been successful. Out of one hundred seedlings planted, even one does not survive. Forests disappear, if people start to live there. The forests of Madhupur, Bhawal and Chittagong Hill Tracts are disappearing for the same reason.

If we want to create forests in the country, we should try for it in the islands of the Bay of Bengal. In order to make the area scarcely populated in favor of forestation, some people should be shifted from the islands and rehabilitated in the so-called forest areas where trees have almost been destroyed. Grazing should also be prohibited there. In the islands out of 100 seedlings, hardly one would die. Most of them would survive. The growth of trees in these places would also be very rapid. No guarding, fencing, nursing and manure or fertilizer would be necessary. Theft of timbers would also hardly be possible from these places. Like the forests in the Pacific island countries, these forests would prevent the effects of cyclones in Bangladesh to a great extent.

Like the Florida Beach Lakes, artificial fish lakes may be created on the sea-shores of the main land of Bangladesh and around the islands in the Bay of Bengal. In that case, tidal waves would first be obstructed by the front dam of the lakes and tamed by the beds of the lakes. Thereafter, the weakened waves would hardly be able to cross the inner dam of the lakes. These lakes would also serves as shelters for fishing boats and trawlers during cyclones. The digging cost of these fish lakes may be met by selling them to fishing companies and others by auction.

Fishing should not be operated in such ways that fishes are driven away from shallow territorial waters to deep seas and silting is disturbed for formation of new lands. Cross dams may be formed at shallow waters in the sea with soil bags in the Dutch way for quick formation of new islands and lakes.

Government may sell some of the state properties and set up a revolving fund with the sales proceeds for implementation of the programmed. Friendly countries like USA and Saudi Arabia and International organizations like UNO and OIC may also be approached of the fund.

 

III. ORGANIZATION OF WORK-BRIGADES:

Japan is densely populated. But only 15% of her land is cultivable. Her natural resources are also very meager. But she has made great strides in the field of development only by ensuring optimum utilization of her manpower. Bangladesh may also follow the example of Japan and make arrangement for optimum utilization of her manpower.

With the above conception, it is advisable to form production and development work-brigades by the persons seeking employment and poor students under an Organization of Work- Brigades for ensuring mass production and optimum utilization of the manpower in the following ways:

1. The work-brigades will take over new islands and ‘Khas’ lands and will establish vegetable gardens, rice-plots, fruit gardens all over Bangladesh and dispose of these gardens and plots before fruiting by selling them by auction when it will be considered that their further maintenance will be smoothly on-going by the auctioneers.

2. The work- brigades will establish thousands and lakhs of vegetable and fruit gardens in the hills of C.H.Ts. and on both sides of roads and will sell them by auction at the earliest opportunity when it will be considered that their further maintenance will be smoothly going on by the auctioneers.

3. The work-brigades will establish various kinds of military farms throughout the country on Borga-systeem by taking lands from private persons who will not cultivate their lands themselves.

4. The work-brigades will also take over all low lands on both sides of roads, low lands around homesteads, other low lands and all fallow ponds and tanks from the owners with compensation and will cultivate fishes in those water-fields. These will be disposed of by auction for a particular period when it will be thought that their maintenance will be smoothly on-going by the auctioneers.

5. The work-brigades will acquire under-developed areas at the suburbs of towns for planned development. After earthen development including internal roads, these areas will be sold by auction with priority to the original inhabitants.

6. At present huge quantity of word is wasted in the interior of the forests of the Chittagong Hill tracts. The work-brigades will collect this wood and sell the same at various markets by auction.

7. The work-brigades will reclaim the islands in the Bay of Bengal in the Dutch Approach for setting up grass farms, dairy farms, ground- nut farms, potato farms, fish ponds and lakes etc.  For sale by auction.

8. The work-brigades will re-excavate existing the canals and turn them as north-south gravitation canals for easy flood control and irrigation.

9. The work-brigades will establish dams across the rivers with plastic bags of sands to reserve water for large-scale fish culture and irrigation.
           
10. The work-brigades will establish cold storages throughout the country for storing agricultural produces and departmental stores for selling goods against the salaries of the work-brigades and others.
                       
11. The work-brigades will do roads and highway works, the work-brigades will construct multi-storied community houses of various sizes throughout the country for sale to the workers against their wages and to others in cash.

12. The work-brigades will construct industrial sheds, business complexes and shops throughout the country for lease and sale.
13. And many others.   Low cost academy cum-hostels, mobile tent-type hostels and night schools and colleges will be set up at various places in Bangladesh with their headquarters in Dhaka. The workers will generally earn their livelihood from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m. and learn trades and receive general as well as technical education at these hostels from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. with all possible assistance from the organization and the Government.

In order to provide employment to the brigade workers, Government may prepare special labor oriented development schemes in consultation with the organization and place them at the disposal of the organization for implementation. At the preliminary stages the Government should bear the expenditure; thereafter the organization will run its business itself and ultimately should economically be strong enough to make capital formation for national development.

To attract unemployed persons to join this nation-building program, Government should give priority to the brigade workers of this organization at the time of recruitment and selection of candidates for employment in foreign countries. This organization may also be allowed to collect job demands from the Middle East and other countries for the brigade workers.

In order to maintain proper discipline in the hostels, the Army should depute some of their personnel as administrative officers of the brigades. In addition to their administrative functions these army persons may casually impart military training to the brigade workers.

To make the workers self-propelled in their duties, the brigade workers may be graded as Nos. I, II, III and so on. Periodically their work will be assessed and evaluated and lists of brigade members prepared in order of merit. A certain percent of the workers from the top of the list will be transferred to the upper grade enjoying more allowances. Another certain percent of the workers from the bottom will be transferred to the lower.

The brigade members will receive only reasonable allowances in proportion to their contribution to the national development. All unearned and unexpected big profits will go to the “Capital Formation Fund for National Development” to be created by this organization. To accelerate capital formation for national development the Army, Navy, Air force and the Civil Offices should help the organization in all possible ways with man, material, transport etc.

There will be a Cell of Contracts in the organization for making work available for any time  in any season by finding out contract works (production and development works mainly) in both public and private sectors at the rates works are available. When production work is not available at reasonable rate and it is available only at a very low rate, Government may like to compensate the organization in the form of subsidy to keep production, development and employment on-going.

            The following will be the source of financing of the activities of the organization:

1. Government donations and subsidies;
2. Private donations within the country;
3. Foreign donations (Government may allow the organization to collect donations from foreign countries specially from the Middle East countries);
4. Collections from the beneficiaries of the organization;
5. Proceeds of auction of the fruit gardens, vegetables gardens, firm etc., of the organization;
6. Contract money in respect of implementation of Government schemes;
7. Remuneration for performing contract works of private firms and individuals;
8. The Government may extend the facilities of a revolving fund in the scheduled banks under the Bangladesh Bank which may be principal financier of the organization and ultimate owner of its properties.
9. The organization shall have the right to utilize all unused Government lands in the country, purely on temporary basis in most cases and on long term basis in some cases.

 

           
Govt. may authorize the army to form Work-Brigades and to manage their activities with the help of the retired civil officials and ex-servicemen. The preparation of planning and programs may be left to this organization.

 

IV. A NEW STRATEGY FOR COMMUNITY HOUSING:

There is a lack of formal housing in the poor countries. Majority of the people are living in slumps and huts. As a result, these countries are seriously facing sanitation and other environmental problems. In order to solve the housing problems of the poor people in the third world, revolving national house building funds may be established with contributions of aid agencies under the umbrella of the UN. The national government may also contribute to the fund by selling its own housing colonies and other state properties. With the fund so established, a public limited company working as a managing agent may build new housing colonies for the citizens who are unable to build their own houses themselves.
In order to make it within the reach of the purchasing power of various classes of the people, the houses may be of various types, such as small room houses, economy room houses, one-room houses, one and a half-room houses, two-room houses, two and a half-room houses and so on. Like the provident funds, a house purchase fund may by open. If the deposit of an applicant comes near the value of a one-room house, he may be given a one-room-house. Thereafter when his deposit in the fund will come near the price of a one and a half-room house, he may be shifted to a one and half room house. Thereafter when his deposit will come near the price of a two-room house, he may be shifted to a two room house, so on. The construction workers may be paid in kind, that is, through allotment of rooms or flats. For this purpose 25% to 33% of house may be reserved. They may work somewhere else in the early parts of the day for earning their livelihood and work in the housing projects in the evening and in the night for earning living rooms.

 

V. INVESTMENT AND DISINVESTMENT POLICY:

Under capitalism the affluent society, in a certain country, plays the role of industrialization. The government extends enormous economic, financial and tariff facilities to the class of people for accumulation of money for the purpose of industrialization, employment and mass-production in the country.

In Pakistan, the Ayub government extended such facilities to the society of 22 families. These families accumulated huge money and set up thereby numerous mills and factories in that country.

In Bangladesh, the government also extended the same facilities to the members of our affluent society and they accumulated huge money in their hands. In addition, after liberation, the nation received enormous relief goods, grants and loans. Directly or indirectly, this wealth has also been pocketed by these persons. Instead of setting up mills and factories in the country with the money so accumulated, these people have invested it in unproductive enterprises. As a result, the nation is now at a standstill and perhaps, destined to walk behind. The people are suffering from unemployment and dearth of goods and services.

Under the circumstances, it is suggested that the government itself may adopt the policy of investment and disinvestment for the sake of rapid development in the fields of industry, agriculture, fisheries and the like in the following manner:

1. The government may go on forming industrial funds by selling its existing mills and factories and thereby go on setting up new mills and factories and sell their shares to the persons seeking employment therein on the line of Public Ltd, companies through holding companies partly owned by the government and partly by machinery exporting foreign companies/manufacturing firms.

 

1. The government may go on forming housing settlement funds by selling its existing abandoned properties and residential colonies and thereby go on building new ones and so on, on the line of employees-cum-shareholders Public Ltd. companies and holding companies.

 

1. The government may go on forming agricultural development funds by selling its existing agricultural farms and some landed property and thereby go on setting up modern agricultural and dairy farms and sell their shares to the persons seeking employment therein and so on, on the line of Public Ltd. companies and holding companies.

1. The government may go on forming fisheries development funds by selling its existing fish fields and thereby go on establishing new fish fields and hatcheries and sell their shares on the above lines.

 

1. The government may stop the issuance of permits for forest timber and go on forming forest development funds by selling timber by auction and thereby go on, establishing forest estates and fruit gardens on the line of employees-cum-shareholders companies through a holding company.

 

The government may give an announcement that sale of shares of companies will always remain open. The share-holders who will not get jobs in the companies would be absorbed in army, navy, air force, the police department etc. The pension and provident fund money of officials should not be paid in cash, it should be paid in shares of companies. Sale proceeds of the following must be invested in companies in the form of purchase of shares:

Private plots received from government.

1. Private buildings built on plots received from govt. or Rajuk.
2. Private Mills and factories.
3. Private business and business premises etc.

Govt. may set up a trust fund for purchase of shares of companies and their sale as credit shares among the poor and workers. For this purpose the govt. may bring money to this fund by selling govt. colonies, khas land, govt. mills and factories, govt. business establishments, unused govt. office premises, state corporations etc.
Banks must not grant loans at interest. They must purchase shares of companies. Insurance companies also must purchase shares with their accumulated money.
For running these joint stock companies, managing agent companies must be appointed. Managing agent companies would be in a better position to import latest machineries for the companies and export their products.
It will be noted by all concerned that if there is any loss in any organization, that loss will be borne by their workers and officials, not by the organization.

At present the government is compelled to borrow money from foreign countries, international financial institutions and banks as sufficient revenue is not coming from our small and medium enterprises due to evasion of taxes. Evasion is possible by such enterprises as they are generally owned by one and two persons who can prepare false documents easily for tax evasion. But tax evasion is not possible in case of big joint stock companies as they are owned by lakhs of people. Under the joint stock company system revenue collection is huge and the govt. becomes very solvent.