MEDIA reports on Monday said Mongla Port authority has declined to offload 19,700 tonnes of substandard wheat imported from France by the Ministry of Food. The supplier firm Glencore Grain BV and its local agent Impex Consultants made similar import of two lakh tonnes of rotten Brazilian wheat earlier this year and made booking for import of more wheat from France, also reportedly rotten and not consumable by human beings
Since the Brazilian rotten wheat prompted protests all over the country, new import from France was shelved for the time being. But the arrival of 52,000 tonnes of the wheat this time at Chittagong Port shows that the vested quarter is not at rest while working as government contractor to build its wheat stock enjoying political protection and the minister’s reported involvement in the procurement deals. It shows they are out to mint money by cheaper import and there is no accountability in the government to hold Ministers and senior functionaries accountable for swindling public funds in high corruption cases like import of rotten wheat. Eating such wheat may cause serious health problem, in addition to the fact that allowing the cover of such imports is a criminal offence under law.
The Food Minister was under tremendous pressure following the import of substandard Brazilian wheat. The matter went up to the Supreme Court seeking protection from supply of the rotten stock for human consumption. The Minister even made confessional statements in Parliament on that occasion to stop the remaining shipment from Brazil. But not only the Brazilian shipments arrived, new shipment from France made partial unloading this time showing that cheating and frauds are no more a secret in the business of the government.
Reports said Chittagong Port authorities declined to unload the French wheat after offloading 7,000 tonnes as test reports showed they are substandard. Meanwhile the Food Ministry offloaded another 25,000 tonnes. The cargo vaessel then moved to Mongla Port with 19,700 tones where the authorities are also declining to offload. They are now under tremendous pressure to receive the grains.
Question arises as to how the Food Ministry is importing rotten wheat with impunity continuing the supply contract with the scandalous firm; which imported Brazilian rotten wheat earlier in the year. Why the Minister is not rescinding the contract and rather allowing import of rotten wheat to make the nation sick. In our view the Prime Minister must act quickly to remove the Minister and put him to accountability before the corruption scandals in the Food Ministry will become endemic. If the persons responsible were punished on earlier occasion, this scandal could have been avoided.
