Allegations have intensified that Petrobangla and Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) have now turned into a den of irregularities, mismanagement and corruption due to continuous abuse of power by some unscrupulous and influential officials. As a result, crores of taka is downing the drain on the tip of nose of the authorities concerned, but to no headache of anyone.
According to a news report published in a national daily on Sunday, the country has been deprived of Tk 4,697 crore for irregularities by Petrobangla and BPC. These irregularities came to the surface when a team of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) carried out an audit on the books of 11 companies under Petrobangla from fiscal 2014-15 to 2016-17 and two companies of BPC for fiscal 2013-14. They include spending beyond the rules to buy goods and services at high prices; flouting the instructions of the Finance Ministry and the National Board of Revenue; and disregarding the Gas Sales Rule 2004 and 2014; the Bangladesh Gas Act 2010 and the Bangladesh Regulatory Commission, the Public Procurement Act 2006 and the Public Procurement Rules 2008.
Petrobangla, however, accepted the anomaly as pointed out by the CAG audit team and admitted that the collected VAT and SD of Tk 6,015.5 crore, which was supposed to deposit with the state coffer, was not duly forwarded. But for this misdeed none face any punishment.
On the other hand, the irregularities from the past and the manner in which PBC authorities have since refused to address them, perfectly match with their recent activities, including whimsically and unthinkingly instituting a record hike in fuel prices, despite several alternatives. This has taken citizens’ living expenses to never-seen-before heights in the country. The BPC could have used the Tk 46,858 crore profits it made in the last seven years to continue the subsidy on fuel and thus prevent the price hike.
Another agency under the same ministry Petrobangla, is now in the process of getting an indemnity clause included in the Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation Bill- 2022 which if approved, would shield its officials from any legal proceedings, effectively absolving them of any responsibility for their actions.
Petrobangla and BPC allegedly never felt the need to take the experts into account. The question is whether they will wake up after the censure of the CAG audit team. We urge the authorities concerned to undertake necessary reforms in how they are run so that they can serve public interests, not the interests of corrupt bureaucrats and their political masters.
