10 Meghna Group units closed for 7 yrs due to directors' feud
Sunday, 6 April 2008
FE Report
Ten industrial units, including some listed ones, of the Meghna Group of Industries Ltd. having an estimated investment of Tk. 2.5 billion and bank loans worth Tk 1.0 billion have remained inoperative for the last seven years due to conflict among the sponsor directors.
"We have lost nearly seven billion taka during this period," claimed M F Kamal, Chairman of the Meghna Group of Industries Ltd who blamed his brother-in law Mostafa Kamal for the mess. Mostafa Kamal and his associates, however, refuted the allegation.
Industries belonging to the Meghna Group are mainly financed by the Sonali Bank. In 2001 the board of the bank mediated twice to resolve the dispute among directors. But it did not help much and, at least, 10 units under the control of the group went out of operation.
The matter was finally taken up by the finance ministry and the Bangladesh Bank. An enquiry committee comprising officials from both the finance ministry and the central bank conducted a thorough investigation into the issue for long six months. The Committee submitted a report to the finance ministry and the National Board of Revenue (NBR) recommending various measures for immediate reopening of the industries. On 8th August, 2004 the finance ministry sent the recommendations to the Sonali Bank and other departments concerned. So far twelve directives have been issued for implementation of the recommendations, but the problems have not been resolved as yet.
During the early part of 2007, Sonali Bank sent a number of letters to Mostafa Kamal to resolve the matters through negotiations. The main theme of the Sonali Bank letters was "peaceful co-existence."
The rivalry among the owners turned so bitter that the repeated moves by the Sonali bank for mutual settlement did not work. Now both sides are planning for legal battle which makes the prospect for reopening of the units rather bleak.
The closed units are: Meghna Condensed Milk industries Ltd, Meghna PET Industries Ltd, Meghna Cold Storage Ltd, Meghna Food Ltd, Prime Edible Oil Ltd, Prime Multi-Project PET Ltd, Meghna Fresh Tea Ltd, Mokka Printing and Packaging Industrieas Ltd, Meghna Fisheries Ltd and Modina Feeling Services Ltd.
Ten industrial units, including some listed ones, of the Meghna Group of Industries Ltd. having an estimated investment of Tk. 2.5 billion and bank loans worth Tk 1.0 billion have remained inoperative for the last seven years due to conflict among the sponsor directors.
"We have lost nearly seven billion taka during this period," claimed M F Kamal, Chairman of the Meghna Group of Industries Ltd who blamed his brother-in law Mostafa Kamal for the mess. Mostafa Kamal and his associates, however, refuted the allegation.
Industries belonging to the Meghna Group are mainly financed by the Sonali Bank. In 2001 the board of the bank mediated twice to resolve the dispute among directors. But it did not help much and, at least, 10 units under the control of the group went out of operation.
The matter was finally taken up by the finance ministry and the Bangladesh Bank. An enquiry committee comprising officials from both the finance ministry and the central bank conducted a thorough investigation into the issue for long six months. The Committee submitted a report to the finance ministry and the National Board of Revenue (NBR) recommending various measures for immediate reopening of the industries. On 8th August, 2004 the finance ministry sent the recommendations to the Sonali Bank and other departments concerned. So far twelve directives have been issued for implementation of the recommendations, but the problems have not been resolved as yet.
During the early part of 2007, Sonali Bank sent a number of letters to Mostafa Kamal to resolve the matters through negotiations. The main theme of the Sonali Bank letters was "peaceful co-existence."
The rivalry among the owners turned so bitter that the repeated moves by the Sonali bank for mutual settlement did not work. Now both sides are planning for legal battle which makes the prospect for reopening of the units rather bleak.
The closed units are: Meghna Condensed Milk industries Ltd, Meghna PET Industries Ltd, Meghna Cold Storage Ltd, Meghna Food Ltd, Prime Edible Oil Ltd, Prime Multi-Project PET Ltd, Meghna Fresh Tea Ltd, Mokka Printing and Packaging Industrieas Ltd, Meghna Fisheries Ltd and Modina Feeling Services Ltd.