Tengratila blaze: Combined effect of corruption, inefficiency and incompetence

Though corruption existed in this country even under the British rule the corrupt supposedly and reportedly was the police department because it was entrusted with the task of maintaining law and order, the most important function of administration in those days. With the passage of time with much more money available for development in all sectors corruption has spread throughout the economy. Maybe Transparency International (TI) allegedly has blown it out of proportion but we shall have to admit that the present government with its availability of so much of opportunity (due to its holding absolute majority in the parliament) has miserably failed to control corruption though it has established Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) particularly under pressure from the donors. In fact it is difficult (if not impossible) for the government to defend the allegation that corruption has increased under the 4-party alliance rule.

From the start of their governance we have heard of inclusion (reportedly) of some corrupt personnel in the administration. Even though we may not say that it was an encouragement for corruption we are sure that a corrupt man never likes taking any drastic measures to curb corruption. We assume that a corrupt politician is ordinarily richer than a relatively honest politician. Thus a corrupt politician is more capable of contributing to the party fund than a straight forward honest politician. Similarly, the corrupt officials, being wealthier than their honest and straight-forward colleagues are able to satisfy the authorities in various ways. Such officials are politicised easily and quickly because they do not bother about anything good or bad for the people and state. When such lawmakers do not simply like to curb corruption why they should not be friendly with the dishonest but rich officials. Thus in such state of affairs money rules the incompetent administration.

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Meanwhile many developments are taking place in the ministry of energy and the state minister had to leave office. We know that he did not have good reputation about his honesty or integrity. But there may be others in the cabinet who are under criticism from the members of the ruling party. Why are they left to pursue their practices as usual? Apart from other considerations, for the sake of the party it has become highly desirable of the prime minister to stem the rot.

It is not surprising to see increase in corrupt practices in administration mainly because of administrative laxity, acceptance of crime (corruption) by the society as 'inoffensive' (or not-so-offensive) and its illiteracy. During the last thirty-five years only a few politicians could be branded as corrupt but did we ever see any top bureaucrat (at the level of secretary to the government) identified as corrupt? We understand that a list of high officials (of the rank of secretary and additional secretary to the government) known for their corrupt practices was prepared in 1983 (during the Ershad regime). This list was never made public. In fact only a few were punished and some others were even promoted later. Same practice is continuing. We are yet to see any effective measure by the ACC.

We have a very limited knowledge about the development of gas or petroleum sector in other parts of the world. We are, however, aware that accidents may happen due to technical or mechanical failure. But the act of choosing a technically ill-qualified oil or gas company cannot be seen lightly. In choosing a foreign gas company for gas extraction emphasis must be given on the technical competence of the company. The company's experience and past reputation should also be carefully considered. Needless to say because of our extreme vulnerability to temptation of money we have allowed companies of dubious reputation to handle our development projects like KAFCO, Jamuna Fertiliser, Chittagong Urea Fertiliser etc.

If we analyse properly we can see that all these deals have been made in favour of foreign investors or donors or partners. It is not that we are incompetent (may be less competent). It is our lack of patriotism which has become problem for our country. So long as the politicians and the top bureaucrats do not refrain from thinking of only their own welfare and so long as the state appears powerless to punish the culprits duly we cannot see any real development. No amount of deterrent steps can be effective in a highly corrupt environment.

Mere removing a state minister from office is no solution to our problem in the gas sector because the problem is too old to be cleared so easily. Slowly and gradually it has assumed an awesome proportion. In fact it started from the early eighties. The situation rapidly deteriorated during Ershad regime. During the later part of the nineties it turned messy. Thus the present regime will have to go deep into the problem. The new advisor may be competent and dynamic but he alone is not sufficient to improve the situation in the gas sector. He should be given proper support by the administration. Our press should also be careful because we have a tendency to blow up the mistake or omission of the authorities.

However, the government must try to be as transparent as possible. There is no guarantee that there will not be any accident in future. What is most important is that a democratic government, being people's government, cannot yield to the strong lobby of the oil companies or their agents. The companies should only be selected on the basis of their technical capability, experience and past reputation. Contracts with these companies should be very carefully drafted with assistance from our best legal experts. To make the contracts transparent they should be ratified by the parliament.

The loss due to Tengratila blaze is certainly huge (more than Tk 70,000m). However, in taking a decision about Niko's contract we must not be guided by sentiment or emotion. In the business world it is commercial consideration which is given priority. The other consideration is inter state relations. It takes years to build close bilateral relation. A simple mishandling of a case can destroy it. Among western countries Canada gave us lots of assistance, both in economic and trade development, directly and indirectly. Only through proper negotiation with Niko we should settle the dispute if there be any. It is heartening to know that government is taking measures to improve the quality of drafts of future contracts. However, the contracts must be ratified in the parliament.

ABMS Zahur is a retired joint secretary.