Though the government has decidedly chosen to be austere in its policy in the wake of falling dollar reserves and dire economic straits, it is taking anti-people decisions for economic management of the country. This is very sad that steps are now being taken against public interest as they used to be taken in the past. Whom does the government want to serve when the country is reeling under an economic crisis?
Just recently, the government has decided to import wheat from Russia, according to a report of a national daily yesterday, at an inflated cost by a private company named National Electronic BD as the third party. Russian wheat is now higher than USD 300 per tonne in the global market, but the same wheat is being purchased for USD 430, inclusive of shipment costs.
National Electronic BD reportedly failed to import one lakh tonnes of wheat before. Surprisingly, this time the same company has been given the responsibility of importing five lakh tonnes of wheat.
Transparency International Bangladesh has rightly called the decision to import wheat from Russia at a very high price a violation of the public procurement act and illegal. Wheat has been decided to be imported from Russia in a government-to-government agreement, but the government has engaged the private company National Electronic BD as the middleman.
There is no legal basis to engage a third party in government-to-government procurement. The price of wheat in the world has come down to almost its previous level, thanks to the beginning of import of the commodity from Russia, Ukraine and their neighbouring countries. But instead of price fall, it has shot up even more in Bangladesh due to the fuel price hike by the government by an unprecedented margin to get a $4.5 loan from IMF.
Against this backdrop, TIB believes, and justifiably so, that the import of wheat at high cost has been taken just to benefit the middlemen by a syndicate who are misusing their power.
Besides wheat import, the government has engaged the Russian company in gas drilling in the country, also with a high cost. The same company, National Electronic BD, has been given the responsibility of contacting the Russian Gazprom to drill three gas fields in Bhola. Before, these gas fields used to be explored by the state-owned Bapex. Can’t this question now be asked: when the country is going through an economic crisis, couldn’t the state-owned Bapex have continued the gas drilling work?
It is really shocking that public money is being squandered in the country without any accountability. It is perhaps possible only in Bangladesh that, even though not being a part of the food items import sector, National Electronic BD can get the work as middleman to bring wheat.
