Illegal connections and pilferage are endemic in the public sector utility services such as gas, electricity and water. In most cases, an unscrupulous section of officials and employees is always found to be involved in all the mischievous acts of depriving the utility service providers of substantial amount of revenue.
Stories about corrupt linemen or meter readers becoming millionaire or billionaire sometimes hit newspaper headlines. The reports usually detail how these people made money illegally and invested the same in residential buildings and other establishments, commercial or otherwise.
In some cases, however, owners of residential, commercial and industrial establishments beyond the notice of the state-owned organisations concerned take illegal connections or tamper meters. Officials, relevant ones, at times do either ignore the same or demand bribe from the offenders to overlook the offence committed.
Until five to six years back, offences such as taking illegal connections and pilfering gas, water and power involving the state utility service providers used to be committed by a section of unscrupulous officials, employees and consumers. But during the last four to five years, people having links with the ruling party/parties have appeared on the scene in an organised manner. Their relationship with the local utility service providers varies. In some cases, evil local political elements and the corrupt officials have developed a nexus. But there are cases where such elements did not feel it even necessary to share their ill-gotten wealth made by providing illegal gas or power connections with the officials.
A few weeks back, a leading vernacular daily ran an elaborate report describing how the local political goons despite opposition from the local officials of the utility service provider concerned allowed unauthorised gas connections to thousands of residential houses of a wide area in Narsingdi. The organised groups took nearly Tk 50,000 to Tk 60,000 for each gas connection. They are now realising monthly gas usage charges from these illegal customers on their own and sharing the same among themselves. The local Titas Gas Distribution Company officials faced troubles while trying to deter the political elements from engaging in the illegal acts.
Yesterday the same newspaper ran yet another story on how ruling party men in connivance with the so-called local representatives and dishonest officials and employees of the Titas Gas were providing illegal gas connections in exchange for a fee running between Tk 20,000 and Tk 100,000 in areas surrounding the Dhaka city. The areas include Sonargaon and Rupganj Upazilas of Naraynganj, Gazipur, Tongi, Dhamrai, Ashulia, Savar and Keraniganj. The connections include a number of industrial and commercial ones.
The involvement of the political elements in what the Bangla daily described as 'gas anarchy' reached a new height when the Petrobangla last year had announced that it would resume gas connections to residential houses and legalise the illegal connections. Even a sitting state minister of the past government, who is now a full minister in the present cabinet, allegedly inaugurated an illegal gas distribution line last year at a union in Savar.
When approached by the Bangla daily, the minister, however, claimed that the distribution line was very much legal and Titas officials were present at the function.
It is not that the Titas gas company is the only loser. All other utility service providers in the public sector do also have the same experience. It has become more of a national culture to pilfer resources if the same belong to the state. The pilferers usually do not try to exploit private resources for fear of retaliation. Since the men in-charge of protecting state resources are either indifferent to their duty or collusive in terms of grabbing the same, pilferers in fact enjoy heyday in most cases.
There is no reason to single out the state of affairs with the state-owned utility service providers for it is very much linked to the poor state of governance in the country. There could be marginal and temporary improvement with the change of guards at the state level. But the situation usually returns to the same old state or becomes even worse after sometime.
A research study report, unveiled by the Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC) last Saturday in Dhaka showed the state of decay in important elements of governance. The respondents covered by the survey report put their maximum lack of faith in politicians, followed by police and judiciary.
So if the people find these three important elements of state unreliable, how can there be good governance? And under such circumstances, the state-owned entities would naturally falter and more and more people would lose respect for what is legally right.
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