Trained HR are essential for coal supply chain management

Dr. Mushfiqur Rahman : 
Mining own coal import, developing, and operating coal-based thermal power plants, are three different dimensions of expertise. Keeping the Power System Master Plan (PSMP), Bangladesh will require import/supply approximately 66 million tons of coal per annum for generating 22,000MW of power. Attainting this target is a huge challenge. The country is not ready to secure uninterrupted supply of coal from its own single mine for the line mine-mouth power plant. Hopefully, the policymakers have realized the challenges in their recent efforts to import 0.1 million tons of coal for emergency crisis-management for the Barapukuria coal fired power plant operations. The plan for setting up coal port/import terminal is its restricted coastal corridor and utilizing the river routes is extremely challenging. Bangladesh does not have the required human capital for operating the three large coal-fired power plants, which are expected to come into commercial operation by 2024.
For these three power plants, each of the companies must develop a pool of well-trained young, dynamic and qualified manpower and experts. They must be integrated with all the activities from coal sourcing, coal supply contract negotiation and transportation and handling storage, coal from the supply sources to the power plants. Another group should be engaged to work closely with the power plants designing, engineering and construction works so that they gather enquired experience to operate and maintain them once the contractors complete their plants commissioning works.
Unfortunately, our foreign training culture is seldom result-oriented, and is limited with merely travelling abroad for sightseeing and shopping. These, in most cases, involve people distant from the targeted project implementation and operational works and trainings do not fulfill their objectives. The young and mid-level technical professionals must be involved in the target oriented training (desirably on job-trainings) process for improving their skills, improve work culture and doing research on advance technology for self-improvement. The better performing group should go through training in Bangladesh initially to be conducted by foreign experts. At the end of this stage, based on the evaluation by trainings, individuals may be further developed/recommended for higher levels of training (including with overseas trainings) under specific terms of reference.
Changing the existing training culture to target oriental training and utilizing trained personnel in relevant jobs would enable reduction in continuous reliance on foreign experts and consultants.
The writer is a Mining Engineer.
This article has been printed under a syndication arrangement with energy and power