Jumbangla Desk: Poton Traders has taken the lead in managing the supply and transportation of imported fertilizers till 2023. The owner of the company is Kamrul Ashraf Khan Poton. At the same time, he is the chairman of Bangladesh Fertilizer Association (BFA), a fertilizer traders' organization and former Member of Parliament for Narsingdi-2 Constituency.
An investigation by a government agency has revealed that poton traders have lost nearly two and a half lakh tonnes of fertilizer in 2021. Details from the report by Kal Kantar-
The purchase price of these fertilizers is 1 thousand 380 crores. At that time, the subsidy in the agricultural sector was close to 6000 crore rupees. As a result, about 20 percent of the total subsidy amount has been corrupted by only one institution. Apart from this, the farmers have been deprived of real benefits due to the corruption and wastage of fertilizers at various stages.
It is known that even two decades ago the subsidy in agriculture was one and a half to two thousand crore rupees. The amount of that subsidy was increased to 25 thousand crore rupees in the last financial year. Even in the last 16 fiscal years, about one and a half lakh crores of subsidies have been given, most of which have been killed. As a result, the common farmer did not get this subsidy benefit from the government.
Due to various scams and corruption related to fertilizers in the last one and a half decade, the full amount of subsidy in the agricultural sector has not reached the farmers.
Anwar Farooq, the former secretary of the Ministry of Agriculture, told Kal Kantha that the farmers' subsidy money has been lost and corrupted with the help of the state. Some individuals and institutions were engaged in this work. Those who committed corruption were not properly punished. Even the officials of the ministry have been prevented and threatened to take action against them.
As a result, the agricultural subsidy has not actually reached the farmers. But there is no substitute for this subsidy to reduce the price of fertilizers. If the huge amount of subsidy given in the last 16 years had been properly utilized, the farmer would have got the fertilizer at a lower price. Crop production could be increased. Therefore, those who will commit corruption with the subsidy money in the coming days, should be brought under strict punishment. If not, corrupt people will be reborn in this sector.
According to information from the Ministry of Agriculture, four main fertilizers are commonly used in the country. These are – Urea, TSP, DAP and MOP (Potash). Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) under the Ministry of Industries imports urea fertilizer. Bangladesh Agricultural Development Corporation (BADC) under the Ministry of Agriculture imports the rest of the fertilizers. Fertilizer demand was estimated at around 6.5 lakh tonnes last year. 2.6 lakh tonnes of urea, 7.5 lakh tonnes of TSP (triple super phosphate), 1.6 and a half lakh tonnes of DAP (di-ammonium phosphate) and 8.5 lakh tonnes of MOP fertilizers are required. Apart from this, the demand for other fertilizers is about eight lakh tons. Out of this, 9 to 1 million tons of urea fertilizer is produced in the country. In total, in the last financial year 2023-24, about 24 thousand crores of subsidy has to be paid.
Again, the transport sector is a major area of subsidized fertilizer corruption. Due to lack of space in buffer warehouses, around 3 lakh to 3.5 lakh tonnes of fertilizer is always in transit outside the warehouse with the transport contractors. In the fiscal year 2017-18, the final transit fertilizer was two lakh 79 thousand tons. According to the letter from the transport contractors, the amount of fertilizer kept in provision for payment of bills is 9 lakh 46 thousand tonnes. There was no mention of the rest of the fertilizer. In this way, the transportation contractors have an agreement to deliver the fertilizer to the buffer warehouse under the control of BCIC after lifting it, but these fertilizers did not arrive at the scheduled time. Various organizations including Poton Traders have cheated the government of thousands of crores of rupees. Dealers, fertilizer traders, syndicates and middlemen have pocketed a large portion of the subsidy through fertilizer embezzlement-corruption. In the last 16 financial years, one lakh 52 thousand 653 crores of subsidy has been given to the agriculture sector. 98 percent of which went to the fertilizer sector. And it is in the fertilizer sector that the farmers have been deprived the most through corruption and mismanagement.
Dr. in this regard. Mohammad Emdad Ullah Mia said, 'Work is being done to ensure the supply of fertilizers in the country. All measures have been taken to ensure that the subsidy money reaches the farmers properly. Maximum precautions have been taken at the field level to ensure that farmers are not harassed to get fertilizers at a fair price. The matter of paying higher prices of fertilizers during the previous government has also been cancelled. About $100 per ton of imported fertilizer was charged higher. We were able to cancel that contract and bring the price down. Apart from this, we are taking the initiative to adopt scientific method in the fertilizer usage rules.
