Fish landing centre lies abandoned
Staff Reporter, Barisal
The fish landing centre in Barisal is left to lie abandoned as no fish traders are using the legal market for years. The centre now earns only Tk30,000 a month from rent of some of its rooms against its Tk1.5 crore year-on-year income from fish trading earlier. Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation (BFDC) established the centre at a cost of Tk2 crore. The authorities attributed the situation to stoppage of supply of jatka coming here thanks to strict monitoring on the sale and netting of the undersize hilsa fish. There is no scope to sell or buy any other types of undersize fish either. Not a single fish is traded here for the last six years. Fish wholesalers backed by the ruling party leaders quitting the centre went to their illegally established market on the Port Road in the city where they openly trade undersize fish, netted using illegal current nets. As a result, the fish landing centre lies abandoned.
The centre has a record of collecting Tk3.25 crore as revenue from the fish merchants in 25 months and 13 days in 2007-2008 fiscal, sources at the BFDC claimed. Sources said the fish landing centre at Bandh Road in the city on the west bank of the Kirtonkhola River was constructed in 1986 on 1.5 acres land with the financial and technical support and assistance from DANIDA. The centre has facilities of ice factory , cold storage, water supply, healthy fish packaging, 32 stalls for fish merchants, 14,000 square feet space for fish landing and exporting shed, truck parking yard, pontoons and jetty for anchoring and unloading 50 fishing trawlers at a time. After 1/11 in 2007 during the time of the military-backed caretaker government, fish merchants were evicted from their illegally occupied BIWTA lands and forced to use the BFDC fish landing centre for their business.
They were forced to do their business here for two years.
At that time, the centre earned about Tk3.25 crore as revenue from the fish merchants, including net profit of Tk1.61 crore, and the government spent total Tk.57 lakh to develop different types of facilities and infrastructures in the centre.
In this period about 20,000 tonnes of fish, including 12,000 tonnes of hilsa, were unloaded in this centre and the government collected tax amounting to one percent of the income from fish trading. After return of the political government to power, the fish merchants again started their activities taking patronisation from the ruling party leaders to leave the BFDC fish landing centre and return to their previous illegally occupied government land .
They, instigated by ice factory owners of the adjacent areas, illegally occupying lands of BIWTA at Port Road in the city and using the name the ruling party cadres continued their business there without giving any tax or duty.
However, according to the Marine Fisheries Ordinance of 1983 and 1993, fishing boats are bound to use the fish landing centre and fish merchants only could run their business there, said BFDC officials at the centre.
Abdur Razak, security assistant of BFDC, Barisal, claimed that the fish sellers were openly trading jatka there but they had no scope to do that at the government fish centers. Syed Sirazul Islam, manager of BFDC fish landing centre, Barisal, said since after the government circular to stop hilsa export, the center is facing the threat of closure.
Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation set up the centre here following request of the local fish wholesalers and fishermen. In the last 31 years, only 5,092 tonnes of hilsa have been exported from here. Only four officials out of 32 are doing job here coming and going only. Twenty-eight others were transferred from here. Monthly expenditure here is about Tk 1.5 lakh but there is no income. Were incoming only Tk30,000 a month by renting space of the centre to others. Due to stoppage of hilsa export, less fish trading and increased electricity rate, the largest ice factory of the centre has already stopped its production, he added.
