‘Sarwar removed to promote corruption’

Opposition Member of Parliament for Gazipur-4 constituency, Salah Uddin, participating in the budget discussion in the National Parliament, has alleged that honest and clean-image officer Sarwar Alam was transferred out of Sylhet specifically to encourage corruption.

Speaking in the National Parliament on Thursday, he said that corruption in the country has reached an alarming level.

He also alleged that approximately Tk 17 crore is being looted every week in the name of supplying eggs, bread, and bananas under the School Feeding Programme. He further remarked that fresh instances of corruption in canal excavation projects are continuously coming to light. Salah Uddin added that in many cases, bribery has now become a “systematic process.” In his words, bribes of 10 to 15 percent are being calculated on a calculator and collected accordingly.

Criticizing the proposed budget, he said that although the Finance Minister’s budget has been called a “story of life,” in reality it is a “tale of fantasy.” He remarked that this debt-dependent budget of nearly Tk 2.75 lakh crore does not carry a positive message for the country’s economy.

He alleged that prices of 14 essential commodities and various other goods were raised even before the budget announcement. He also noted that transportation costs have risen to record levels due to hikes in electricity, fuel oil, and LPG gas prices. He further criticized the increase in taxes and VAT on raw materials for MS rods, steel, tin, soap, and shampoo.

Toward the end of his speech, Salah Uddin raised several demands for the development of his constituency, Kapasia. These include constructing a modern cold storage facility, conducting special drives against drugs and juvenile gangs, and allocating special funds to upgrade the Rajendrapur-Kapasia-Tok road to four lanes.