A section of officials and employees at the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training iBMET) are realising at least Tk four lakh as illegal toll daily from Gulf War victims for disbursement of the compensation money provided by the UN. the victims alleged.

The money is shared by "most" of the officials and employees, they claimed.

The toll is being realised although 1.5 per cent of the compensation money is deducted officially for meeting administrative costs.

Officials there said four hundred Gulf War victims are called at the BMET at Kakrail in the city daily for payment of compensation, which varies between Tk one lakh and Tk two lakh. The payment started on June 1 and will continue till August 1.

Some 71. 321 Bangladeshis returned home from Iraq and Kuwait during the Gulf War in 1990. The United Nations Compensation Council (UNCC). created after the war. so far sanctioned Tk. 983 crore to the Bangladeshi victims. Of It. Tk

925 crore has already been paid, (he officials said.

This correspondent spent several hours daily at the BMET office in the last few days and noticed that officials and employees were demanding toll openly from the victims.

Dozens of the compensation seekers standing in eight queues told this correspondent that they had to pay illegal toll ranging from Tk. 5.000 to Tk 1.000 each. "Otherwise, the officials sitting at the counters unnecessarily harass us by asking for one document or the other They simply deny payment till we grease their palms." one of them said.

Another victim. M. Chowdhury. who came from Sylhet for his compensation money said, "1 was lucky to get the money by paying Tk. 600. But 1 saw another victim paving Tk. 1.000.”

A poor widow from Chand-pur had to pay Tk. 5.000 to get Tk. one lakh compensation money payable to her husband, who died after returning home, another victim said.

Sometimes, deals are made through 'dalals' (brokers) who are members of a so called

Kuwait-Iraq Returnees' Association. But the victims said It was a self-styled association formed by some unscrupulous people In connivance with the officials and employees. None of them are Its member, the victims said.

Asked why they did not lodge complaint with the authorities concerned, they said the office of the Director for UNCC affairs at BMET office was under lock and key for the last few days.

This correspondent tried repeatedly to meet The Director General of BMET. but he refused to talk.

Sources close to the DG said he took office barely two weeks ago. and is under heavy pressure’ from a strong lobby of officials who have been realising such toll Illegally for years.

The DG. a former official of the Bureau of Anti-Corruption, gave a verbal warning to the dishonest officials and employees. but to no effect, the sources said.

The Daily Star also reported in late 1998 that Tk. 26 lakh was realised as illegal toll by a

section ot officials while disbursing earlier installments of the UN compensation money.

When this correspondent tried to talk to Mahbubur Rahman. BMET Director for UNCC affairs, he said has to obtain permission from higher authorities to meet the press.

It took him two weeks to get a ‘permission' from the DG's oil ice.

When this correspondent went to meet him on Monday his office was found locked from outside and a peon sitting on a tool in front of It. When this correspondent gave his identity, he opened the door, allowed him inside and locked It again.

Asked. Rahman said the door is kept locked from outside to avoid disturbance by compensation seekers.

He acknowledged that he re-ceived complaints about toll collection. No official is involved. I think some outsiders are cheating them (compensation seekers). We caught some of them in the past, said Rahman.

But he had no answer when asked why the authorities allow outsiders inside the office and why those caught were not handed over to pmlce.