bdnews24.com :
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said mobile courts aimed at checking food adulteration have fined companies to the tune of more than Tk 12 million in last five years.
“Measures against those adulterating food will continue,” Hasina said during a question-answer session in parliament on Wednesday.
So far, 8,796 business companies have been fined more than Tk 80 million for selling adulterated food and expired medicine, the prime minister said in reply to a query from Rajshahi-4 MP Enamul Haque.
Some 186 companies have been fined more than Tk 2.4 million for mixing formalin in food, she said, adding the formalin-tainted fruits and fish were destroyed on the spot.
Tk 4 million was realised from 463 drugstores for selling expired medicines.
Under the Consumer Rights Protection Act, 2,833 companies were fined Tk 12.3 million and 17 people were sentenced on various terms since 2009.
The prime minister said 14/15 monitoring teams were working across the country to prevent mixing of harmful chemicals in seasonal fruits.
Replying to a query from Fazilatunnesa Bappy, an MP from reserved women’s seat, Hasina said the Padma bridge was no longer a dream project.
The implementation of the project is now a matter of time, she said.
“We hope vehicles will use the bridge in 2018,” she said.
The prime minister also detailed projects initiated by her administration to turn Bangladesh into a middle-income country by 2021.
