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2 SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017 DT News Biman’s carousel of incompetence Dozens of bags go missing at Shahjalal International Airport every day, CAAB promises to act • Ishtiaq Husain and Esha Aurora SPECIAL Having gained her law degree in London, 28-year-old Alipha headed home to Bangladesh with a head full of dreams and a suitcase full of her worldly possessions, the most valuable of which was a brand new gold graduation ring. She never imagined she had anything to worry about as her plane touched down at Dhaka’s Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. The luggage, however, took two hours to arrive, and when hers finally did, she saw it had been broken open and the contents ransacked. “My mother forgot to put the padlock through the appropriate gap between the zippers and the lovely folks at the airport pulled them back as far as they could, cut open the plastic bag that was covering everything inside, and took my brand new iPod and the gold ring,” Alipha said. Incidents like this are all too common at the country’s main international airport, where ground handling services are provided by Biman Bangladesh Airlines, the national flag carrier. Industry insiders say that baggage handling at the airport has been mismanaged by Biman for years, with the ground staff gaining an infamous reputation for carelessness and even downright theft. According to a report compiled by the airport authority, everyday over 100 passengers file for lost baggage at the Lost and Found section of the airport. Either their suitcases went entirely missing after arriving in Dhaka or their belongings were stolen from the suitcases at the airport. Legally, they receive a compensation of just $20 for each kg of luggage that has been lost. A blatant lack of accountability, say critics, has gotten to the point where ground handlers routinely pick out suitcases from flights they know are bound to be filled with valuable goods, such as flights from the Middle East and India. “It took 5 hours for our baggage to arrive at the carousel although it took 45 minutes to get to Dhaka from Kolkata,” said Farnaaz Mahbub, a passenger. “When we asked them what was taking so long, an official said they were tired and taking a break, although we could see them manually checking the bags one by one before they let it on to the carousel.” The worsening situation has compelled the Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) to act. The Dhaka Tribune has learned that CAAB is preparing a new ground Passengers push luggage carts at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Dhaka Every day over 100 passengers file for lost baggage at the Lost and Found section of the airport. Either their suitcases went entirely missing after arriving in Dhaka or their belongings were stolen from the suitcases at the airport handling policy after decades of complaints about theft and careless handling by Biman staff. The new policy will lead to CAAB inviting fresh tenders from companies for ground handling. Biman has monopolised ground handling at all of the country’s airports for decades. The Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry on August 13, formed an eight-member committee led by AHM Ziaul Haque, additional secretary (Biman & Civil Aviation) to form new regulations on ground handling. The committee will include representatives from the Ministry of Law, Customs, NBR, Civil Aviation Authority, Biman Bangladesh Airlines and private airlines. Wing Commander Ziaul Kabir, director (Flight Safety) of CAAB said as a regulator, CAAB has drafted the new ground handling policy to provide better services at the airport. This problem of theft has gone beyond affecting ordinary passengers, as LGERD Minister Ashraful Islam, Health Minister Mohammad Nasim and Former Civil Aviation Minister GM Quader also lost their suitcases at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. Despite setting up CCTV cameras, Biman has still been unable to stop its own staff from stealing. Seeking anonymity, a Biman staff member said the suitcases were now being broken into while being transported from the plane to the airport building: “They pick the locks on suitcases, steal what they want and lock it back again, in seconds!” Kauser, a traffic helper employed by Biman, was recently arrested by the airport law enforcement for breaking into suitcases. “Considering the out of control situation, we desperately need an experienced, organised company to manage the ground handling at the airport at this point,” said a CAAB official. Biman Bangladesh declined to comment for this story. Light at the end of the tunnel? Every day around 200 flights take off and land at Dhaka airport. Nearly 4 million people pass through the airport on 25 international airlines every year. Each international flight on average has 400 passengers travelling into or out of the country. This has DHAKA TRIBUNE already proved to be too much for Biman to handle with insufficient number of equipment and employees. According to the Civil Aviation Authority, Bangladesh (CAAB) draft policy, they will soon send out tenders for ‘Ground Handling Service Providers Licence’ for two years. There would be three types of licences on offer. Whichever company acquires them must also pay a licensing fee and will also have to pay 25% royalty to CAAB. Although critics have questioned whether or not the company best suited for the job will win the tender and finally break Biman’s monopoly. The Category A licence holder will be able to provide ground handling services to all the airports (both domestic and international flight). Category B licence holder will be able to provide ground handling services to only local airliners and category C licence holder will be able to provide services its own flight ground handling services – a service that already exists. According to the daft policy, the fees and charge to provide ground handling service to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport for a Category A has been set at Tk10 crore and the renewal fee has been set at Tk5 crore. Fee and charges at Sylhet Osmani airport, Chittagong Shah Amanat and Cox’s Bazar have been fixed Tk5 crore and the renewal fee has been set at Tk2.20 crore. License fee to provide services to others airports in the country would be Tk1 crore and the renewal fee has been set at Tk50 lakh. To get the Category B licence, the fee and charges to provide ground handling service at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport has been set at Tk5 crore and the renewal fee at Tk1.5 crore. Fee and charges at Sylhet Osmany Airport, Chittagong’s Shah Amanat and Cox’s Bazar Airport fees has been fixed Tk3 crore and the renewal fee at Tk1.50 crore. License fee to provide services to others airport in the country would be Tk1 crore and the renewal fee at Tk50 lakh. The draft policy said all the service providers will have to pay 25% royalty to CAAB. The paid up capital for Category A is Tk200 crore and for Catagory B is Tk50 crore out which they must pay CAAB 5% as a security guarantee deposit. CAAB sources said that after the draft ground handling policy gets approval from Civil Aviation and Tourism ministry, Biman will finally lose its monopoly but General Manager and spokesperson of Biman, Shakil Meraj declined to comment on the issue. Requesting anonymity a Biman official said he highly doubts any other company could survive doing business at such a high cost. However, Imran Asif, CEO, US-Bangla Airlines told the Dhaka Tribune that the draft ground handling policy is much better than the existing system. CAAB will monitor and the services provider by the new ground handling operator every year. The draft also states that no operator will be allowed to purchase or sell any equipment. They will need approval to appoint high ranking officials and no employee would be allowed to join labour unions or organisations. The Dubai based ground handling services company Dnata, Swiss company Swissport and a Chinese company SATS expressed their interest in partnering with Biman for ground handling services. Historically, it has been very hard to remove Biman from this monopoly. In 2006, there was a proposal to form an independent company to operate the ground handling services but failed to get approval from the government because pressure from Biman, which earns the government Tk500 crore yearly. •
News SUNDAY, 3 AUGUST 20, 2017 DT This year, DSCC has almost finalised the leasing. It has already leased out 12 haats for Tk8.75 crore, officials say. Most of the DSCC cattle markets have been leased out for less than the targeted rate RAJIB DHAR City loses millions on cattle markets The haats become money spinners ahead of Eid, but city corporations lose out • Abu Hayat Mahmud SPECIAL An Eid cattle market in the capital is a massively profitable business. Put up Tk1 crore at any of the two city corporations to lease a haat, and you can make Tk10-12 crore in three days. The 22 temporary cattle markets that open before Eid-ul-Azha are all on the city corporations’ land. Although the haats are meant to be leased out through an open bidding process, the Dhaka Tribune has found that only a handful of people, either ward councillors of the Dhaka south and north city corporations or local ruling party leaders get the leases every year. On top of that, people involved in the cattle trade say the city corporations could be making much more money from the haats but instead they take a policy that maximises the profits of the lease-holders at the expense of taxpayers. To meet the demands for sacrificial animals in Eid-ul-Azha, apart from the permanent cattle market in Gabtoli, 22 other markets or haats will be set up in the city, nine in Dhaka North and 13 in Dhaka South. A bargain price The city corporations leased out the haats last year for a total of Tk9.46 crore. This year, DSCC has almost finalised the leasing. It has already leased out 12 haats for Tk8.75 crore, officials say. Most of the DSCC cattle markets have been leased out for less than the targeted rate. The haat at Sadek Hossain Khoka playground has not been leased out yet as bidders are offering prices that are too low. This year the DSCC and DNCC aimed to earn around Tk23 crore from leasing the haats. Sources say the officials set initial bids too low, not taking market prices into consideration, for the benefit of the prospective bidders. The DSCC asked for Tk4.86 crore for the haat in Armanitola, and in return got a bid of Tk1.33 crore. Cattle traders say the average price for an animal in last year’s haats was about Tk40,000. According to official sources around 500,000 cattle were sold last year in the haats, which means buyers spent about Tk2,000 crore. As per the city corporation’s regulations, the lease-holders collect a 5% hasil (purchase tax) on each animal. So according to this estimate, they made Tk100 crore from the buyers alone, on top of the payment they take from cattle traders. Price of a cattle will be higher this year, therefore it is likely that the profits of the lease-holders will be even higher. A meat trader seeking anonymity said: “The city corporation officials either do not know math or are involved in corruption. Otherwise how are they asking for only Tk23 crore from the haats? These people will earn at least Tk100cr.” Who gets the leases? Talking to the Dhaka Tribune a number of city corporation officials said Awami League leaders and Awami League leaders and leaders of Awami League affiliated bodies such as Jubo League, Chhatra League or Swechchhasebak League are getting the leases - if not in their own names, then in the name of their family members or friends leaders of Awami League affiliated bodies such as Jubo League, Chhatra League or Swechchhasebak League are getting the leases - if not in their own names, then in the name of their family members or friends. In the DSCC area, Ward 3 AL leader Muhammad Sharif got the Meradia Bazar cattle market in Khilgaon, Ward 11 AL President Abdul Latif got the Shahjahanpur Moitri Shangha ground, local AL leader Wahidur Rahman Wakib got the Jigatala-Hajaribagh cattle market, local AL activist Mohammad Shaheed Uddin got the Gopibagh cattle market. Dhaka City Awami League Dhaka South unit leaderHazi Shafi Mahmud got the Rahmatganj Playground cattle market, local AL General Secretary Abul Hossain Sarkar got the Kamrangirchar Chairmanbari cattle market, Shyampur unit AL leader Moin Uddin Chishti got the cattle market near Postogola Shashanghat. In the DNCC area, Khilkhet AL President Hazi Mohammad Keramot Ali Dewan got the cattle market on Khilkhet 300-feet road and Bashundhara residential area, former Chattra League leader Abdur Rahman Rubel got the Badda-Aftabnagar cattle market, local AL General Secretary Mohammad Shafiq got the cattle market at Number 1 intersection in Sector 15 of Uttara Residential Model Town, Gulshan AL leader Mojaffar Hossain got Bhatara (Sayeednagar) cattle market. Dhaka City AL North Unit Jubo League Vice-President Md Shah Alam and Central Unit Organising Secretary Salahuddin Mahmud got the cattle market at free space of Eastern Housing in Mirpur 6, local AL leader Imran Uddin Mollah got the cattle market near Mirpur DOHS. The lessees could not immediately be reached for comment. When contacted, DSCC Chief State Officer Kamrul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune that they had leased out all the temporary markets after inviting tender and following all city corporation rules and regulations. DNCC Chief Estate Officer Aminul Islam said they also maintained all the formalities, so it does not matter who got the lease. •
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Page 19 and 20: AUSTRALIA TOUR OF BANGLADESH Sports
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Page 23 and 24: Showtime 23 SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017

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