Bribery Trade at Titas

Gas Key in the Hands of Fascist Shahnawaz Parvez; Energy Ministry Investigates, but Investigation Reports Are Not Published

Panchayet Habib

The wave of the global energy crisis is hitting Bangladesh. Taking advantage of the situation, oligarchs of the fascist Awami League working in the administration are creating artificial crises in gas, electricity and fertilizer supplies. A bribery trade is now underway at Titas in gas distribution. Shahnawaz Parvez, an Awami League-minded bureaucrat, is the mastermind behind the bribery trade.

The crisis has mainly arisen due to the global war situation, short-sighted decisions by the previous interim government, obstacles to LNG (liquefied natural gas) imports and technical problems at the gas terminal in Maheshkhali. Shahnawaz Parvez, a Chhatra League and Awami League leader blessed by former state minister for power Nasrul Hamid Bipu, has turned Titas Gas into a hub of bribery and corruption after becoming its managing director. Before him, former Titas MD Harunur Rashid Mollah broke all previous records of irregularities and corruption and fled.

Shahnawaz Parvez, the current Titas MD, has turned the company into a hub of bribery and corruption. He has also started a new conspiracy over gas against the BNP government. There are hundreds of complaints against him, but although the Energy Ministry has investigated, no action is being taken. Earlier, complaints were filed on behalf of Petrobangla and company officials and employees against discrimination.

Since Shahnawaz Parvez took charge as Titas MD, he has illegally taken around Tk 750 crore from 150 institutions by providing new gas connections and increasing loads. Most of the money came from Savar, Gazipur and Narayanganj. The syndicate took money through illegal connections, irregular disconnections and load increases. The Harun syndicate charged Tk 5 crore to Tk 10 crore for load increases alone. Around Tk 30 crore was also collected every month from approximately 1,500 illegal gas connections. Shahnawaz Parvez played the main role in Gazipur.

The Energy Ministry has investigated him several times, but ministry officials cannot say why the reports were not published.

From cooking stoves to heavy industries, gas shortages are being felt everywhere. Against daily demand of around 3,800 million cubic feet, supply has fallen to 2,114–2,151 million cubic feet. Industrial production capacity has consequently fallen to 20–50 percent, while load-shedding is also occurring nationwide. The crisis has been caused by accidents, global geopolitics, international market conditions and flawed long-term energy policies.

On September 9, 2024, the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources ordered the appointment of GTCL MD Shahnawaz Parvez as Titas Gas MD. Titas officials and employees had initially prevented him from joining. He has since been serving in the post for nearly three years but has failed to take significant initiatives to address the gas crisis. There are allegations that he is carrying out various conspiracies to put the current government in trouble.

Speaking to Inqilab, Shahnawaz Parvez said, “A group has submitted various complaints against me to the ministry. They have been investigated. I do not know what action has been taken by the ministry.”

The current energy crisis is mainly caused by the shortage of gas supply. The shortage did not arise suddenly. Petrobangla had been pursuing an import-dependent gas plan since 2011-12 during the previous fascist government. Domestic gas production from Petrobangla and IOCs reached 2.7 billion cubic feet in 2016-17 but has now fallen to around 1.5 billion cubic feet. This is a major failure of Petrobangla.

Titas areas require around 2 billion cubic feet of gas daily, but recent supply has fallen below 1.5 billion cubic feet, creating a daily shortfall of around 500 million cubic feet. Gas pressure has fallen in Dhaka, Gazipur and Narayanganj. Titas officials said Dhaka has been affected most because the capital is at the far end of their transmission and distribution network.

Residents of Mohammadpur, Mirpur, Dhanmondi and other areas said gas has been unavailable for most of the day in recent days or pressure has been extremely low. Many have been forced to cook on electric stoves or buy food outside. Titas said the crisis has worsened as low gas pressure has allowed water to enter through holes or cracks in pipelines.

Allegations Against Shahnawaz Parvez

A demand has been raised to remove corrupt Shahnawaz Parvez as Titas Gas MD and send him into compulsory retirement. He joined Petrobangla as a first-class employee in 1999 without taking a written examination by using the influence of Chhatra League and the Awami League. Recruitment in 1998 was conducted only through an oral examination, while other Petrobangla officials underwent both written and oral examinations.

The service rules require a BSc Engineering degree for an assistant engineer, but Shahnawaz Parvez obtained a three-year BTech degree from India. It is not equivalent to a BSc Engineering degree and violates the recruitment conditions under Petrobangla’s service rules. His appointment is completely illegal.

He passed HSC in 1988 and completed the three-year BTech degree in 1997. The nine-year gap is suspicious. Although an equivalence certificate is mandatory for foreign degrees before joining a first-class government job, he did not obtain one and joined the job illegally and in violation of regulations by using the influence of the Awami government.

Shahnawaz Parvez worked in Petrobangla’s Contracts Department from 1999 to 2024, a period of 23 years, although an official cannot work in one place for more than three years. The department handles contracts with foreign companies. Because of an incompetent person like him, no good foreign company except India came to Bangladesh for oil and gas exploration.

Despite having no gas transmission or marketing experience, former Petrobangla Chairman Jnanendranath Sarker allegedly violated seniority rules by appointing him first as GTCL MD and later as Titas Gas MD. Shahnawaz Parvez is a close confidant of Jnanendranath Sarker, which everyone in the organization knows.

After becoming GTCL MD, he formed a CP company called Set Bangla in the name of Sarker’s nephew and illegally awarded it hundreds of crores of taka in work. As Titas MD, he provided illegal industrial connections worth hundreds of crores of taka at Sarker’s recommendation, enabling Sarker to earn money through corruption while also taking money himself.

During the Awami regime, he was so powerful that he was elected unopposed as president of the Petrobangla Officers’ Association in 2023. He also violated service rules by visiting Tungipara and placing flowers at Sheikh Mujib’s grave. For refusing to cooperate with his misdeeds, junior officials Saifuddin Ahmed and Abdullah Al Mamun allegedly faced adverse comments, blocked promotions and departmental cases.

Shahnawaz Parvez was a close associate of Ayub Khan Chowdhury, once a feared official at Petrobangla. As GM of Contracts in 2022, he prepared the offshore bidding model, setting the gas price at only $7 per cubic metre, while Petrobangla imports LNG at $15. Seven foreign companies purchased tender documents, but none submitted bids.

The entire responsibility lies with former Petrobangla Chairman Jnanendranath Sarker and Shahnawaz Parvez. Both are agents of India. With Shahnawaz Parvez’s direct backing, the two most promising offshore blocks, SS-4 and SS-9, were awarded exclusively to an Indian company in 2014, with no other country allowed to participate.

Although exploration rules allow a maximum two-year extension, the terms have been extended in three phases for six years, which is completely illegal. India has so far failed to show any results from the two blocks. This is nothing but an attempt by India to seize Bangladesh’s sea. As a result, foreign companies are not interested in offshore oil and gas exploration, forcing Petrobangla to spend thousands of crores of taka on LNG imports.

The national election was held in January 2014, while the agreement with the company was signed the following month, February, which is connected with the illegal election.

Despite being the nephew of Nasrul Hamid Bipu, former state minister in fascist Hasina’s government, Shahnawaz Parvez remains the managing director of Titas Gas.