All economic zones will have CETPs: Beza

All economic zones in Bangladesh will have central effluent treatment plants (CETPs) as the government is concerned about environmental pollution, a top public official said.

Shaikh Yusuf Harun, executive chairman of the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (Beza), said, "The CETP project for Bangabandhu Shilpa Nagar in Chattogram has already been approved. The government is also installing other ETPs [effluent treatment plants] as waste treatment measures in economic zones to curb industrial pollution."   

At a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signing programme with HSBC Bank Bangladesh at the Beza office in Dhaka in Thursday, Yusuf Harun said projects to the tune of Tk4,000 crore, including a water supply network and a CETP have been taken up for Bangabandhu Shilpa Nagar.

"The World Bank is investing in the "Bangladesh Private Investment & Digital Entrepreneurship" project. The tender will be floated soon," he added.

Apart from the central waste treatment plant, the Beza executive chairman said factories in Bangabandhu Shilpa Nagar will have to have their own ETPs as well.

Bangabandhu Shilpa Nagar – the largest economic zone of Bangladesh – is going up in Chattogram's Mirsharai, Sitakunda, and Feni's Sonagazi. As many as 120 industries have already signed deals with Beza to set up production units there. Of them, 13 industries are expected to begin commercial production by the end of this year or in mid-2022.   

Under the MoU, HSBC Bank Bangladesh will plant 40,000 mangrove trees and maintain them in the industrial city as part of the bank's corporate social responsibility efforts.

Mohammad Hassan Arif, general manager of Beza, and Md Mahabubur Rahman, chief executive officer of HSBC Bank Ltd, signed the MoU.

Md Mahabubur Rahman said ecological balance is being considered seriously all over the world and HSBC Bank is proud to take part in the tree plantation programme.

Beza Executive Member Mohammad Irfan Sharif, Abdul Azim Chowdhury, Ali Ahsan, and HSBC Bangladesh Country Head of wholesale banking, Kevin Green, were also present at the programme.