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After mouldy wheat, government imported rotten rice: BNP
The government is making a 'mockery of the people's hunger' by importing 'rotten' rice, after feeding them 'inedible' wheat, the BNP has alleged.
Published : 22 Sept 2017, 05:41 PM
Updated : 22 Sept 2017, 06:19 PM
The party's Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi made the allegation while speaking to journalists at its Naya Paltan headquarters in Dhaka on Friday.
"This time rotten rice has been imported from Thailand, after rotten wheat from Africa. A hullabaloo is on in Chittagong after the news of the rotten rice came to light two days ago," he said.
The food ministry imported over 200,000 tonnes of wheat from Brazil earlier this year. The wheat was reportedly 'rotten and not suitable for human consumption'.
Police objected to taking the wheat when the government distributed the consignment among the law enforcers, prisons, dealers and programmes for the poor like Test Relief or TR and Food for Work or Kabikha.
The High Court ordered the government not to force anyone to take the wheat, though the food ministry found the wheat 'consumable'. Food Minister Qamrul Islam said he was satisfied with the quality of the wheat.
On Aug 31, vessel Thai Bin Bay docked at Chittagong Port with 12,000 tonnes of imported rice and another ship, Diamond, came later this month with 19,850 tonnes of rice, Rizvi said, referring to media reports.
"These rice are totally inedible and of poor quality. We think supplying inedible rice or wheat is against the constitution, humanity."
He also expressed concern that the Thai ships were trying to sell the consignments through private channels after the government had asked to take those back.
He claimed the people fear whether the other consignments were also of poor quality rice.
According to him, 16 ships carrying rice imported by the government have docked at the port since July 13 after two spells of floods created food shortage and caused the prices to skyrocket.
The BNP leader alleged the distributors of the government's Open Market Sale or OMS programme were pushing the low-income people to buy white rice.
He demanded an investigation to 'solve the mystery' surrounding rice.
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