Bangladesh has started work to set up its first floating terminal for importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) with an investment of $500 million, a senior energy official said on Monday.
"It is due to be completed by the end of 2013, if everything goes well," Mohammad Hossain Mansur, chairman of the state-run Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation (Petrobangla), said.
"We have already awarded the consultancy services to Australian firm Poten & Partners," he told Reuters.
The terminal will be built up 1.5 kilometres from Moheshkhali island in the Bay of Bengal.
Petrobangla signed an agreement with the Australian firm last week to facilitate the implementation the project, Mansur said.
Poten & Partners will also help Petrobangla in transmission and marketing of the LNG which the south Asian country is going to import to ease pressure on natural gas.
"We focused on LNG use to diversify the energy sources to ease energy crisis," Mansur said.
Natural gas, Bangladesh's principal source of energy, is depleting fast, likely to be fully exhausted by the end of 2015 unless new gas reserves are found, officials said.
About 80 percent of the country's manufacturing firms and electricity-producing plants are fuelled by natural gas. Bangladesh at present produces around 2.0 billion cubic feet of gas per day (bcfd) leaving a shortage of more than 500 million cubic feet.
Petrobangla floated an international tender last November for a 15-year build-operate-and-transfer contract.
"We have already short-listed a number of international firms and the process will be completed soon," Petrobangla's Mansur said.
The terminal will have facilities for berthing and mooring of LNG ships with a capacity of 138,000 to 260,000 cubic metres, and for LNG storage and re-gasification, the chairman said.
Petrobangla last year signed a memorandum of understanding to import 4 million tonnes of LNG annually from Qatar Petroleum.
After two days of violent street demonstrations, students of Jagannath University have paused their agitation over a funding row following assurance from the ruling party.
The decision to halt the protest came on Monday afternoon from a meeting between the students, teachers and several student organisations.
Ruling Awami League's student front Chhatra League president Badiuzzaman Sohagh, after the meeting, told reporters that Awami League presidium member Obaidul Kader will sit with the stakeholders to resolve the matter at the Imperial Hotel at Gulistan on Tuesday.
The students had taken to the streets for a second day protesting the provision that the public university should generate its own income to operate.
Following Sunday's protest, some 1500 students had blocked the city's Raisa Bazar-Naya Bazar street at 8:45am on Monday amid police cordon, creating a severe traffic snarl-up on the Dhoalikhal connecting road and Dhaka-Dohar road.
The general secretary of the university's Chhatra Union unit Nazmul Hasan told reporters, "We've pushed back the protest for now. But we'll announce instant programmes if nothing positive comes out from tomorrow's talks."
At a press briefing following the meeting, JnU vice-chancellor Prof Mesbahuddin said, "We're trying with honesty and good sense. I hope the law will be reformed at the earliest."
According to the Article 27 (4) of the Jagannath University Act- 2005, the university authority will have to fund its operations themselves. The Jagannath College, founded in 1884, was turned into a university in 2005.
The students say the university raise their semester fees from Tk 3,500 to Tk 20,000 to raise revenue. Their other demands include recovery of university dormitories, setting up a library, and increased transport facilities.
Earlier in the day, baton-wielding police had clubbed and dispersed the students around 10am and several people including police constable Nazrul Islam and students were injured during brief clashes.
Police also detained at least 24 students during the protests on Monday before the situation came under control, Kotwali Police Station chief Salahuddin told bdnews24.com.
The traffic became normal around 10:30am after the protesters left the street. They took position inside the university campus.
Chhatra League activists also paraded down the street calling for repeal of the law while its president Shohag sat with the students on the campus.
The students of JnU have long been demanding the rule be repealed amid support from the teachers.
University's proctor Ashok Kumar Saha on Sunday told bdnews24.com: "We are holding talks with the government to repeal this clause as its implementation would hike tuition fees and there will be very little difference between Jagannath University and other private initiatives."
The angry students began their protests at 11am on Sunday in front of the National Press Club after they came to know about the funding rule from a newspaper report.
Police charged batons to disperse them and the students, in retaliation, smashed several vehicles.
RAJUK has again extended deadline for application for allocation of plots in the Jhilmil residential project by 15 days.
The capital Dhaka's development authority said in a media statement Monday night that the time limit for submitting application has been stretched to Oct 10 at the request of people eager to apply.
Sunday was the last date for submission of bids for around 1,200 plots up for grab.
RAJUK began taking in applications for residential plots on June 1. The original deadline to submit applications was July 25, which was later extended by one month to Sep 25.