NARSINGDI, Nov 12, 2023 (BSS) - Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today called upon the countrymen to face any situation with courage as Bangladesh must march ahead confronting all the hurdles like arson violence.

"Bangladesh is progressing ahead and will move further by overcoming the man-made disasters like arson violence alongside the natural ones. I call upon the countrymen to face the situation with courage," she said.

She made the remarks, addressing a civic rally after inauguration of the newly constructed Ghorashal-Palash Urea Fertiliser Factory (GPUFF), the largest of its kind in the Southeast Asia on the GPUFF premises in Palash Upazila here.

The Prime Minister said she has to move ahead confronting various impediments.

"None can stop Bangladesh's journey towards development," she said.

The Prime Minister said the BNP-Jamaat clique has again started the arson terrorism like 2013-14 ahead of the national election.

"They have again stared the arson terrorism. I don't know when their conscience will rise and will be sensible," she said.
 

The Prime Minister reminded all that the Awami League was not able to come to power in 2001 general election despite getting maximum votes due to local and foreign conspiracies.

Sheikh Hasina said the Awami League did not come to the power at that time as she refused to sell gas at the request of America, saying that they will sell gas only after meeting the local demand and keeping storage for 50 years.

"Bangabandhu's daughter has no intention to come to power after selling country's resources," she said.

Sheikh Hasina also called upon the people not to leave even a single inch of land uncultivated so that 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.

The environment friendly energy saving and modern technology based factory with production capacity of 9.24 lakh MT of fertilizer annually was built at a cost of Tk 15,500 crore on 110 acres of land.

Of the total cost, the government provided Tk 4,580.21 crore, and Tk 10.920 crore was obtained through business loan schemes from JICA, HSBC, and Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ Limited.

The prime minister inspected the factory before its inauguration.

She also released commemorative stamps, opening envelopes and a special canceller marking the opening of the GPUFF.

A video documentary on the project was screened at the function.

Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun, MP, State Minister Kamal Ahmed Mojumder, MP, Anwarul Ashraf Khan, MP, and Senior Secretary Zakia Sultana, spoke on the occasion.

The premier later addressed a grand rally at the Mosleh Uddin Bhuiyan Stadium here where she also inaugurated a number of development projects in Narsingdi in the afternoon.

With starting operation of the fertiliser factory, the dependency on imported fertiliser will reduce significantly as the local factories will produce together 19.24 lakh MT against the country's total annual demand of 26 lakh tonnes.

The local factories are currently producing about 10 lakh tonnes while the rest of the annual demand is met through import.

The factory will create 30,000 jobs, according to the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC).

It is the first fertilizer factory in Bangladesh where the environmental pollutant Carbon-Di-Oxide (CO2) will be captured from the primary reformer flue gas and the production of urea fertilizer will increase (about 10pc ) by using the captured CO2.

This is "modern, sophisticated, energy efficient and green" fertilizer factory in the country which will reduce the import of urea fertilizer and save hard-earned foreign currency.