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OPINION

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Shahabudilin Mah tab
The first editorial of a local vernacular daily (dt. Sunday 7th June), was titled "Frozen fish now dumped under earth". 'Ilie first reaction of a reader, would be, what a ridiculous statement. The shrimps arc a rare delicacy and it should adorn the dining tabic, on very rare occasions, say, when a son-in-law comes to visit his wife’s parents. If Alexander the Great was alive to-day, he would have said once more, "what a strange country is this, Sciukasl" A long time ago (in the year 1975) a great American, late Dr. Winburn Thomas, who came to Bangladesh to serve a humanitarian cause, told me two things, "you waste your resources in such a way that even the richest country in the world would simply shudder at it”; the second thing that this great humanitarian told me was "you only do ten paisa -worth of work, and ninety paisa worth of propaganda/public relations". Dr. Thomas is now eternally resting In the soils of Bangladesh. These facts were staled Jusl to highlight, what a single person can do.
Messrs Cormondai Fisheries Development Ltd of Salkhira, with the Intention of earning a very high profit, saved on the cost of cold storage. And as a result, Tk 3 crore worth of frozen shrimps were found to be rotten and unfit for human consumption, when these reached their destination. The shrimps arc now being buried in the soils of Bangladesh, as has been stated above.
The exporter has not lost a single Taka, as all the^moncy was provided by Ihe sonull Bank. Salkhira branch, and In further consequences, the people will be ihe sufferers, and there will be more poverty.
But the more fearful thing In this case is its grave ImpH-cattons that will be reflected In
me importing countries. It will, by no means, be confined to the shrimp industry but implicate all Bangladeshi exports.
One further thing has to be mentioned here. The registration of Messrs Cormondai Fisheries Development Corporation was cancelled by the Ministry of Commerce as far back as 1987. The bank, however, continued to extend loans lo the company. The recoverable loan in this case, inclusive of Interest, is now Taka six crore. We arc now talking that, there is no production In thie country, there Is uncm-ployinent, the wheels ol the economy have come to a standstill position, and the country Is in a recession, and we have an uneonlrolabic inflation (or should we say stagflation).
On another side of the picture we sec that while the country Is able to produce 180 crore metres of cloth againsl Ils requirement of 144 crore metres, most of our weavers arc unemployed. Textile mills are unable to sell their huge stockpiles. While we should have been self sufficient in milk, by observing a national strategy, we are importing milk powder worth Tk 400 crore or more. The cloth sector and the milk sector can provide employment to a huge number of people. There are clearly many other sectors which can provide employment lo our people, and at the same time meet the many needs.
Admitted Ihal we have a burgeoning population, admitted also that we are a disaster Krone area, but we have a ardworking and resilient people, who have been battered and broken many limes, bul have again risen on their feet. The government must lead us in the right direction and take all actions that are in the national Interests.