AG for regular assessment of customs officials’ assets

Attorney General Mahbubey Alam on Sunday said the wealth statements of customs officials need to be assessed regularly by the Finance Ministry to ensure transparency in the vital department which has a bad name of corruption. He said it must be examined whether there is any mismatch between the earnings and assets accumulated by the customs officials so that no ‘bad apple’ exists in the customs department. Alam came up with proposal while addressing a function at the Officers’ Club in the city arranged by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) and Bangladesh Customs marking the International Customs Day 2014.
Citing an example, he explained why many people want to get jobs as a customs officer and a sub-registrar.
Expressing his displeasure over the ‘departmental cases’, the attorney general said it is not desired to see so many cases within the department.
He also suggested engaging two NBR officers representing customs and income tax divisions to help deal with the related cases. The smiling attorney general also described how a section of businesspeople averts taxes saying they have so many excuses to dodge that.
He said the country’s revenue earnings would have been much higher had the due taxes could have been realized. Finance Minister AMA Muhith, President of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed and senior NBR officials were present.