Tree robbers at large

More than 7,000 trees are reported to have been sold under the cover of a secret tender where the local MP's men were presumably the sole bidders. Now, the criminal offence has to be examined in all its ramifications to gauge its real magnitude.

Firstly, national resources have been looted in a planned way where the complicity of forest department officials is far too obvious, as the number of trees in each forest block was shown to be 50 percent less than the actual one. So, it is a glaring instance of how a corrupt bureaucracy is working in tandem with unscrupulous political elements.

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Secondly, the crime of felling trees has a highly negative impact on environment. So the corrupt elements not only violated the law by illegally selling the trees, thus depriving the public exchequer of a big amount of money, but also caused great damage to the environment. If such activities continue, then the slogans like "plant more trees" will soon be reduced to a deceitful expression of concern for greenery. Thirdly, the report indicates that the looters managed to thwart whatever attempt was made by some in the local administration to stop their illegal business. If that were true, we have reasons to be worried even more.

As corruption has lowered the image of the country abroad and it is identified as the number one malady affecting our economic growth, the cases like the one reported from Bogra need to be handled with firmness and clarity of purpose. The ruling party high-ups have to take stock of the situation and adopt such measures as will blunt the predatory instinct of their activists. The government, for its part, has to initiate a thorough probe and bring the culprits to justice.