BNP Acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Wednesday said adequate gas and electricity supplies to households, mills and factories would be restored within the next one to one-and-a-half weeks.

“The stove in the kitchen that is now burning dimly due to the gas shortage will burn properly again. The necessary fuel supply for mills and factories will also be ensured within one to one-and-a-half weeks. This is the government’s commitment,” he said while inaugurating a nationwide tree plantation campaign organised by the BNP to mark its 48th founding anniversary near Bashundhara Convention Centre on 300 Feet Road in the capital.

He said the government had allocated an additional 4,000 crore taka beyond the budget for the urgent purchase of LNG and fuel to ease public suffering and meet the fuel requirements of mills and factories.

“The government is not sitting idle. This is not happening because of any fault or failure of the government,” he said.

Rizvi said technical problems at the Maheshkhali gas terminal had largely been resolved and the process of refilling the facility was under way.

Explaining the causes of the gas and fuel crisis, he said the ongoing US-Iran war and the suspension of fuel-carrying vessels through the Strait of Hormuz had triggered a global energy crisis.

He said shipping through the strait had been disrupted because of the risk of mine and bomb attacks, creating fuel supply problems in Bangladesh and many other countries.

The government is communicating with Malaysia, Indonesia and other countries to explore alternative arrangements for fuel supplies, he said.

Responding to the opposition’s movement over the gas crisis, Rizvi said a constructive opposition should inform people about the actual causes of the crisis.

BNP Joint Secretary General and Water Resources Minister Shahiduddin Chowdhury Annie, Joint Secretary General Abdus Salam Azad, Jubo Dal General Secretary and MP Nurul Islam Nayon, among other party leaders, were present at the programme.