Extortion adds to price hike: Muhith, Razzak
Staff Correspondent
Courtesy New Age 17/8/09
Two senior ministers have acknowledged that extortions on highways by goons with political links as well as law enforcers add to the transport costs and contribute greatly to commodity price hikes.
The country’s economic growth could have been much higher if the bribes and extortions in government offices down to kitchen markets could be checked, they believed as they were speaking at a supply deal signing ceremony in
‘Please give up greed and stop taking extortion and bribe, and you will see
Food minister Abdur Razzak substantiated, saying, ‘I have gone through an intelligence agency report that a truck carrying perishables pays Tk 3400 in extortion at two points on just a 15-kilometre highway stretch in Gazipur.’
He referred to complaints from traders and truckers that highway tolls made up three-fourths of the negotiated truck fares.
Citing a vegetable trader of his village in Tangail, the minister said carrying one truck of pumpkins to the wholesale market in
‘We have not been able to develop smooth supply chains including convenient wholesale markets for vegetables,’ he said.
The ministers made the remarks as they were witnessing the signing of a supply agreement between a farmers’ cooperative and country’s pioneer superstore Agora.
The finance minister said still there are scopes for increasing agricultural productions by diversifying crops and using advanced technologies and inputs.
The food minister requested the finance minister for arranging easy funds for setting up cold warehouses for vegetables and fruits, and waiving import duty on refrigerated trucks to help develop a cool chain right from growers’ points to superstores and other marketplaces.
Niaz Rahim, managing director of Rahimafrooz, the parent company of Agora, said the government needs to support development of warehouses, sorting centres and trucking infrastructures for agro-commodities under public-private-partnership.
‘A facilitated and organised supply chain can reduce prices of commodities by 15-20 per cent at retail level,’ he said.
Sykh Siraj, Channel-I head of news and a pioneer in agriculture reporting in the electronic media, said, ‘Government’s subsidies and other incentives will only be fruitful when farmers get fair prices for their produces.’
He urged the government for arranging special loans for storing grains so that the growers get payments from the government in advance and escape higher market prices in post-harvest weeks.
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