Govt moving on N-power:Prime minister...........

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina said Wednesday the government was talking with donors and development partners to expedite nuclear power plans in a bid to solve the ongoing power crisis.

The two-time prime minister said her past government faced power problems in 1996.

"To solve those, the Awami League government initiated a number of projects, but they were not kept running after we left office," said Hasina.

She blamed the past BNP-led government for the power crunch.

Hasina said her 1996-2001 administration had followed a policy to increase power production every year in line with demand, but the four-party alliance government did not follow it through.

She pointed out that since coming to power in January this year her government had lifted tax on solar panels to encourage use of alternative energy.

The prime minister also mentioned that proper compensation steps were being taken so that extraction at Barapukuria Coalmine could continue without problems for locals.

Hasina was speaking at a meeting with a 19-member delegation of the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Industries, led by president Abdul Hafizuddin Chowdhury.

The MCCI leaders discussed various issues and raised diverse problems, particularly in the pharmaceuticals and tannery indutries based in the capital.

The prime minister's press secretary Abul Kalam Azad briefed the media about the meeting.