& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Shady deals of oil for food

RAFIQ HASAN, back from Chittagong
It was Thursday (May 12) afternoon when the MT Madina, a private oil tanker traveling from Chittagong to Dhaka, cruised the channel between Char Zahiruddin and Char Alexander.
As the shipmaster reduced the speed of the tanker, two engine boats attached themselves to its sides, and six men came on board. They quickly handed over chickens and hilsha fish to the ship crew, in what seemed a well rehearsed exchange, and then began siphoning petrol from the ship's hull, filling about six containers in all, which they loaded onto their waiting boats.
When they noticed the presence of this correspondent on the ship, the staff ordered the men to stop
siphoning oil from the tanker, which had been carrying around 1,200 tonnes of oil refined at the government-owned Eastern Refinery in Chittagong.
Finally the men left, each of their containers carrying more than 30 liters of oil, worth roughly Tk 6,000 in all.
AN oLD AND oPEN sECRET oN DARK WATERs
Ship crewmembers, ministry officials and others say the siphoning of government oil like this is part and parcel of a tanker's voyage, an open secret on the waters between Dhaka and Chittagong, where more than ten such tankers, each carrying over 1,000 metric tons of oil, sail every day.
They described that their river route has become an underground network for siphoning, with oil traded in the dark of night in exchange for rice, chickens, fishes and cash. Sometimes, huge amounts of oil are even pumped to hidden tanks in nearby villages and unknown shoals, or to barrels waiting on smaller trawlers, and then sold to the local markets, they said.
Locals in Bhola told The Daily Star that siphoning is a longstanding practice, as old as the nation itself.
"We have been observing this crime since the independence of the country," said Asif Hasan, a prominent journalist of the area.
Approximately Tk 3 crore is being siphoned off per month from the Dhaka-Chittagong route, according to the calculations of a high official in the ministry of shipping, who asked not be named.
SHADOWY FIGURES BEHIND A SHADY TRADE
According to sources, a large crime syndicate comprised of local mastans, political high ups and government officials in the area are involved in the crime.
Local people further alleged that local administrations and police stations are regularly paid off by the syndicate to deter any actions against the malpractice.
The deputy commissioner of Bhola, Mohammad Abdul Mannan, admitted the presence of such activities but declined to make any specific allegations. "We have heard about the crime but nobody has came forward with a specific allegation," he said.
He also denied the allegation that the local administration is involved with the crime, saying instead that the administration's district law and order committee was preparing to launch a drive against it. He added that the police have been asked to perform regular patrols on the rivers to apprehend criminals on the spot.
Other sources paint a different picture, however, saying the oil siphoning syndicate controls a vast route and a widespread system of corruption involving crores of taka. "It is a big racket involving many people from laskars to high government officials," said a competent source. The share of money collected through siphoning even finds its way to government high officials sitting in related ministries, the source added.
Of a total fleet of 100 tankers in the country, 70 ply the Dhaka-Chittagong route. According to the shipping ministry official, 90 percent are engaged in the illegal pilferage.
Sources went on to detail a complete picture of the pilferage operation. The siphoning begins when the oceangoing mother vessels, which come from abroad, anchor at the outer anchorage of the Chittagong port.
The oil tankers, which transport crude oil from the mother vessels to the refinery, make underhanded deals with the vessel staff to procure additional oil. The discrepancies are hidden by doctoring huge gaps in the actual loading and loading records on the books.
The additional oil is then conveyed through a far-flung network of illegal channels, sold at the rate of Tk 15 to 20 per litre, as compared to the market rate of over Tk 30.
The trade in oil is lubricating the pockets of scores of people involved in the racket, including officials of government-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC).
An owner of an oil tanker, for example, normally earns only Tk 7-8 lakh per month by transporting oil through the official channel.
But if he exploits the unofficial channel, he can earn even more than Tk 50 lakh per month, said sources involved with oil transport business.
The shipping ministry official added that, in at least one case of which he is aware, a syndicate paid Tk 5,000 per trip to the manager of a ship company.
The spoils of the illicit trade are also making many crewmembers rich, with incomes well beyond their normal salaries. The kind and money earned is distributed among the staff according to their position.
The average salary of a cabin crew, for example, is between Tk 2,800 to 5,000, but most manage to rake in over Tk 10,000 to 15,000 per month.
The unofficial income of a shipmaster is more than Tk 50,000 per month, though they officially receive a salary of only Tk 8,000 to 12,000.
But it is not only the crewmembers that profit from this illicit trade. This reporter also observed two government-appointed pilots siphoning oil from the tanker. One boarded from near Ramgati, Noakhali, and another from Chandpur. Both disembarked with a container full of petrol, the first at Chandpur, the second at Fatullah, where he sold the petrol to a roadside vendor immediately after arriving on land.
The laskars said the pilots are officially required to guide the ship, receiving a remuneration of Tk 300 per trip. But most do nothing but take oil from the ship as a gift.
"They are useless but we are forced to receive them as per a government rule," said Humayun Kabir, the shipmaster of the MT Madina.
T M Gias Uddin, the president of the Bangladesh Oil Tankers Owner Association, admitted that siphoning does take place on some scale, but claimed that 98 per cent of tanker owners are not involved.
The owners of oil tankers are the elite of society, and hardly any of them want their ships involved in such crimes, Gias observed. He added that the association has attempted several times to stop such activities, but has not had much success, in part because of the involvement of high ups within the syndicate.
He observed that siphoning will not cease until the oil companies are privatised.
"If the oil companies are fully privatised, the efficiency would be increased significantly," he claimed. CHECKS, BALANCES, AND WORKAROUNDS
Private sector oil tankers are contracted by the government to carry and deposit oil at three main government-owned oil depots at Fatullah and Godnail in Narayanganj, namely Padma, Meghna and Jamuna. In return they receive a rent charge, around Tk three lakh per trip in the case of the MT Madina.
Later, the oil is distributed to different areas in the country via small bergs and trucks.
Oil company officials said they closely monitor the quantities of oil on their ships. Officials at Meghna Oil Company told The Daily Star that amounts of oil loaded and unloaded from the ship are recorded at both points along the voyage. Any deviations in quantity are deducted from the rent of the vessel.
Company officials said, however, that they accept a certain percentage as a system loss because of wastage during transportation. But if the wastage is beyond that limit, action is taken, they maintained.
But corrupt shipmasters circumvent such checks by loading additional oil on to their ships at the storage depots, paying a kickback to the loaders.
The many allegations of siphoning remain unreported. Even reports of siphoning or official actions against it are kept secret, the officials said, adding that pervasive corruption makes the problem difficult to trace and stop.
"It is very difficult to trace irregularities when corruption takes place with the connivance of government officials and private sector people," said an official of Meghna Petroleum Limited, requesting anonymity.
When contacted, Mostak Mollah, deputy general manager of Jamuna Oil Company Limited, told The Daily Star that private oil tankers are separately enlisted with each government oil company for carrying oil. The company takes administrative action, including recovery of lost funds and cancellation of contracts, if any gross discrepancies are reported, Mollah said.
He was unable to say, however, how many actions have been taken recently as a result of siphoning.