The Barapukuria coal scam

Disappearance of 1.42 lakh tones of coal from the Barapukuria coal mining site is a very disturbing incident. It is clear that a section of insiders at the Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Limited (BCMCL) was behind this incident. The stories that some officials are stating regarding the disappeared coal is rather difficult to believe. Such a huge amount of coal simply cannot be vapourised or get damaged; washed away by rainwater and that also within such a short time.

It was only in June this year the amount of coal available at the Barapukuria’s three yards was 318,000 tonnes, according to the audit record of the BCMCL which it submitted to Petrobangla. But a few days after the audit, all the coal of one yard is simply missing, there is no trace of it, though the yard was supposed to contain 142,000 tonnes of coal. As if there was a magician’s wand behind the whole matter!

But there is nothing amusing in this magic. A country that has very limited natural resources, we just cannot just let this huge amount of coal go away in this manner. This is not the only incident of malpractice of relevant BCMCL people; according to a report of this newspaper yesterday, the incident might only be ‘a tip of the iceberg’ of even large-scale corruption inside the Barapukuria coalmine.

The recent pilferage of coal has triggered strong concern among the common people. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself asked the question regarding the whereabouts of the missing coal. Obviously the government’s relevant authorities would investigate on why and how this huge amount of coal from the site has disappeared, but our point is that the person or persons responsible for the event must be duly punished. It has been reported that a case has been filed against 19 BCMCL officials and a travel ban has been imposed on top four officials.

It is expected that these would not be only a matter of show. In the past many investigations on large-scale scams in the country did not see the light of the day because political influence or even further corruption saved the corrupt. Population-wise Bangladesh is a big country but its natural resources are limited. The powers that be ought to show zero tolerance to any form of corruption. To take Bangladesh to its desired goal socially and economically malfeasance at each and every government office has to be rooted out.

 

The Barapukuria coal scam

Disappearance of 1.42 lakh tones of coal from the Barapukuria coal mining site is a very disturbing incident. It is clear that a section of insiders at the Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Limited (BCMCL) was behind this incident. The stories that some officials are stating regarding the disappeared coal is rather difficult to believe. Such a huge amount of coal simply cannot be vapourised or get damaged; washed away by rainwater and that also within such a short time. It was only in June this year the amount of coal available at the Barapukurias three yards was 318,000 tonnes, according to the audit record of the BCMCL which it submitted to Petrobangla. But a few days after the audit, all the coal of one yard is simply missing, there is no trace of it, though the yard was supposed to contain 142,000 tonnes of coal. As if there was a magicians wand behind the whole matter! But there is nothing amusing in this magic. A country that has very limited natural resources, we just cannot just let this huge amount of coal go away in this manner. This is not the only incident of malpractice of relevant BCMCL people; according to a report of this newspaper yesterday, the incident might only be a tip of the iceberg of even large-scale corruption inside the Barapukuria coalmine. The recent pilferage of coal has triggered strong concern among the common people. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself asked the question regarding the whereabouts of the missing coal. Obviously the governments relevant authorities would investigate on why and how this huge amount of coal from the site has disappeared, but our point is that the person or persons responsible for the event must be duly punished. It has been reported that a case has been filed against 19 BCMCL officials and a travel ban has been imposed on top four officials. It is expected that these would not be only a matter of show. In the past many investigations on large-scale scams in the country did not see the light of the day because political influence or even further corruption saved the corrupt. Population-wise Bangladesh is a big country but its natural resources are limited. The powers that be ought to show zero tolerance to any form of corruption. To take Bangladesh to its desired goal socially and economically malfeasance at each and every government office has to be rooted out.