Fertiliser riddle - 2: Cheated by the Invisible Man
Despite fertile land loss, weather stresses and depleting irrigation water, Bangladesh's agriculture keeps contributing a fifth of the GDP each year. Along with other factors, government's policy support in the form of fertiliser subsidy plays a big part here. But misappropriation of the key agro input by a syndicate involved in shipment and transport, and mismanagement by the authorities, in this case Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation, have tainted this otherwise commendable effort. If such large-scale corruption is outrageous, the culture of impunity within the corridors of the BCIC and elsewhere is worrisome. This systematic graft has cost the state about Tk 100 crore each year since 2009. In this four-part report, Hasan Jahid Tusher exposes the corruption in the fertiliser sector.
Once bitten, twice shy. This idiom means when something hurts you once, you tend to avoid that thing or person. But this does not seem to apply to the state-run Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC). A man has been conning BCIC over and over again but the corporation continues to do business with his firm.
This is the story of a fertiliser transporter, who stole from the corporation, disappeared, resurfaced to steal again, disappeared once again and is now back for business.
In 2005, the Rapid Action Battalion arrested Nur Trading Company's proprietor Mohammad Elias Kanchan for misappropriating 700 tonnes of government fertiliser worth Tk 5.47 crore.
After three months he came out on bail and promptly disappeared for a few years, staying away from this lucrative business.
But with the blessing of a section of BCIC officials, he returned in 2011-12 and got a contract to transport urea fertiliser from Chittagong Port and Karnaphuli Fertiliser Company Ltd (Kafco) to the corporation's warehouses across the country, according to sources and documents.
Elias got the work order for transporting 39,884 tonnes. However, in the last five years, he transported 32,612 tonnes.
According to the contract, all the fertiliser was to be delivered within 21 days but he took four years. He did not deliver the rest 7,272 tonnes worth Tk 31.81 crore. He was served several notices and warnings over the years but he ignored those.
Elias and his company then disappeared again.
BCIC officials concerned had given Elias the work order even without the required security deposit of Tk 9 crore.
He only deposited around Tk 1 crore as security money to take part in the bidding and withdrew the amount immediately after getting the contract.
Interestingly, both the BCIC and government audits failed to find these anomalies until 2015, added the sources.
Not only did the company steal fertiliser, it also delivered shortweight bags filled with sub-standard fertiliser.
Each fertiliser sack is supposed to have 50kg. The in-charges of four BCIC warehouses at that time wrote more than 12 letters to the BCIC general manager [marketing] that the sacks Nur Trading delivered were shortweight and contained sub-standard product.
Responsible officials, mainly the then BCIC general manager [marketing] Syed Zakir Hossain Kazi and his associates in the marketing department [transport section], and high-ups in the industries ministry, did not enquire about the disappearance of this huge quantity of fertiliser. Syed retired in 2014 and withdrew his retirement benefits in full after that.
No probe body was formed. No action was taken and Nur Trading went scot-free.
Syed Zakir Hossain Kazi could not be reached for comments.
Sources said Elias had good relations with the then minister Dilip Barua as both were from the same area, an allegation Dilip Barua denies. Elias is from Rangadia of Anwara upazila in Chittagong,
Elias resurfaced last month and managed to become the lowest bidder for transporting 1.75 lakh tonnes of fertiliser.
The contract was worth Tk 27.89 crore. But the technical evaluation committee and the BCIC Board, headed by its chairman, did not approve the bid.
The committee and the board labelled Nur Trading a non-responsive bidder and asked a bank to freeze around Tk 1.40 crore Elias had deposited as security.
But Elias was able to prevent the BCIC from taking his money. He obtained a court stay order on the BCIC request, an official concerned said.
Until yesterday, neither the BCIC nor Elias could withdraw this money from the bank.
Kamrul Ashraf Khan Poton, chairman of Bangladesh Fertiliser Association (BFA), confirmed Nur Trading's fertiliser mishandling to The Daily Star.
Elias, however, could not be contacted. The Daily Star yesterday visited the address he mentioned as his office in Chittagong. There is only a timber warehouse there.
Even the BCIC can't find him when it needs him. Officials visited his Chittagong home, but he was not there, sources said.
“The company was issued several warnings, but it did not respond. So the decision to file a case against it has been made at a recent board meeting,” said an official seeking anonymity.
Another official said some BCIC top officials received kickbacks from Nur Trading and over the years they allowed it to return and harm the BCIC.
Contacted, BCIC Chairman Mohammad Iqbal said he has been trying to save the institution from this kind of traders.
“Measures will be taken to ensure that companies like this can't do business with the BCIC anymore,” he told The Daily Star at his office recently.
Asked about favouring some companies based in Chittagong for kickbacks, former industries minister Dilip Barua told The Daily Star he did not even know any company from Chittagong.
If anyone received kickbacks, the person could be from the BCIC or lower-level officials, he said, adding that the BCIC deals with overall aspects of fertiliser, including importing and transportation.
“We were totally unaware. The BCIC was responsible for this. We did not monitor [fertiliser transportation] physically.”
In the last eight years, at least 2.58 lakh tonnes of the key agro input valued over Tk 900 crore went missing and had never reached the buffer warehouses of the state-run BCIC.
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