The scourge of smuggling
Wednesday, 27 January 2010
A report in the FE sometime ago stated that only timber valued some 15 billion Taka annually on average get smuggled out from Bangladesh. If this is the estimate for only one item, then what is the total loss on annual basis to the country counting all other goods which are similarly smuggled out? It must be a very huge head spinning amount and underlines the imperative of cracking down hard on smuggling operations.
A relatively new government has come to power. It should prove its commitments by giving a real boost to anti-smuggling operations. The same would not only retain resources within the country but also give a new lease of life to thousands and thousands of local enterprises which have been gradually getting squeezed from failing to face the unfair competition from smuggled products. Thus, effective anti-smuggling operations can come as a blessing for the entire economy.
It is important to adequately equip BDR and RAB with the right tools including even helicopters for them to stand a better chance against the smuggling rackets. Government should cater to these needs. But the greatest results can be obtained from motivating these bodies properly with a heightened moral resolve to really stamp out the scourge of smuggling.
Munir Quddus
Gulshan, Dhaka
A relatively new government has come to power. It should prove its commitments by giving a real boost to anti-smuggling operations. The same would not only retain resources within the country but also give a new lease of life to thousands and thousands of local enterprises which have been gradually getting squeezed from failing to face the unfair competition from smuggled products. Thus, effective anti-smuggling operations can come as a blessing for the entire economy.
It is important to adequately equip BDR and RAB with the right tools including even helicopters for them to stand a better chance against the smuggling rackets. Government should cater to these needs. But the greatest results can be obtained from motivating these bodies properly with a heightened moral resolve to really stamp out the scourge of smuggling.
Munir Quddus
Gulshan, Dhaka