People from all walks of life staged a demonstration at Khagrachari on Sunday demanding gas from the Semutang field before its feeds the national grid.
They said that Khagrachari should get gas from the Semutang field on priority.
They also called for scrapping the production sharing contract the government recently signed with Conoco Philips for offshore gas blocks.
They protesters called for strengthening Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration Company so that the state owned enterprise could explore new domestic reserves to produce oil and gas.
Bikashita Nari Network vice-president Basanti Chakma, woman leader Namita Chakma, district bar association president Taib Ali, Khagrachari upazila chairman Shan-e-Alam, Nasiruddin Ahmed and JSD leader Zahidur Alam, lent support to programmes of the oil, gas committee at Khagrachari as well as in the capital.
United People Democratic Front president Prasit Bikash Khisha and general secretary Rabi Shankar Chakma in a statement said that Chittagong Hill Tracts must get gas from Semutang before it feeds the national grid.
They said that though ruined by Kaptai Hydel Project, CHT got no power generated by it.
They said that the hill people were being evicted from their homes again for the production gas from Semutang.
They said that they would go for tougher programmes to realise the hill people's share in Semutang gas.
Source : New Age
