BANGLADESH

Private sector has vehemently opposed the government move to amend the company law to appoint administrators to rogue firms.

Top businessmen and their leaders held a meeting at Sonargaon Hotel in the capital on the issue and briefed the journalists as it concluded.

Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry President A K Azad told reporters, "Even under the existing provisions, a court of law can appoint administrator to any business house, so there is no need to change the laws."

"Keeping the case of Destiny in mind, the government should not take hasty steps to amend the company law," Azad said.

Urging the government to dump the initiative to change the laws, the business leader said, "Businessmen are completely against this amendment. We don't want such laws. There is no need for this [amended] law."

The Commerce Ministry submitted a proposal at a Cabinet meeting on Monday to amend the company law provisions for appointment of administrators keeping the controversial multi-level marketing company Destiny in mind.

Azad said vested quarters would get a chance to misuse the law if it was amended.

"If the law applies only for the MLM business in our country, then we will give our opinion. But we will face harm if the law applies to all companies."

The meeting at Sonargaon Hotel was also attended by former FBCCI President Mir Naser, Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) President Jahangir Alamin, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) President Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin and leaders of other business organisations.

Meanwhile, Law Minister Shafique Ahmed on Tuesday said at a programme in the capital the government would appoint administrators on six to seven grounds in line with the amended law it was set to bring.

According to the law, the board of directors of any company would be given 15 days to show their cause why an administrator should not be appointed to that company, he said.

"This law's goal is to protect the property, which the current law does not cover."

Commerce Secretary Ghulam Hossain, however, said on Monday that the Cabinet approved it in principle and sent it back to the ministry for further review.

"The Cabinet set two conditions – incorporation of a safety clause and vetting from law ministry – before tabling of the proposal again for final clearance," he said.

The government had no intention to use the laws for political purposes or to harass anybody, the Secretary said.

"The Cabinet instructed us to consult all stakeholders and the ministry is going to have its first meeting on Oct 30," he said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is widening her Cabinet, throwing in four senior politicians as she attempts to reclaim the political initiative with a year before the government runs its term.

Tofail Ahmed, Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, Rashed Khan Menon, Hasanul Haq Inu and Mujibul Haque are set to take oath soon, a government source privy to the development told bdnews24.com on Wednesday night.

Omor Faruk Chowdhury and Abdul Hyee were also going to be sworn in as state minister in a move intended to inject new life into government functioning, the source added.

When Cabinet Secretary M Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan was reached for confirmation, he said," The names are correct."

But a senior Bangabhaban official said at 11:20pm Wednesday that no swearing-in ceremony had been planned "as yet" for Thursday as widely reported in the media.

"We haven't received any such request as yet," President's Press Secretary AKM Nesar Uddin Bhuiyan said.

President M Zillur Rahman will swear the five in.

The media has spent months trying to shine a fitful light on a possible shake-up, intensely so in the past few days.

Relegated to ceremonial advisory role in Awami League, Tofail – the Industries and Commerce Minister in the 1996-2001 Hasina administration – is being brought back in from the cold. Former Secretary Alamgir, a former technocrat State Minister for Planning, spent time in prison during the 2007-8 emergency rule and it is now clear that the Presidium member's loyalty is not lost on the party.

Omor Faruk is the Awami League MP from Rajshahi-1 and Abdul Hyee is from Jhenaidah-1.

It will be baptism in government for Workers Party chief Menon and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal head Inu, who are being finally rewarded for being on the side of Awami League on key policy issues, Mujibul Haque who is a ruling party whip in Parliament. Inu heads the Parliamentary Standing Committee on telecommunications ministry and Menon is the Chairman of the one on education ministry.

Put to the test will be the governance skills of the left-leaning stalwarts, who along with Tofail, have, of late, been vocal about the government's handling of affairs such as Sonali Bank loan scam and lack of action over the 2007 August torture by troops at Dhaka University.

The fourth shake-up in the Cabinet since the Awami League and allies took office in 2009. The latest additions in the Cabinet were Suranjit Sengupta and Obaidul Quader who took oath last year. Suranjit forced his way in after three years but was caught up in scandal and resigned as Railway Minister after only four months in office.

After the coalition rode to power, Hasina formed her team with new faces, leaving the old ones in the cold.

In the first two shuffles, heavyweights like Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail, Abdur Razzaque, Abdul Jalil and Suranjit Sengupta were overlooked.


Tofail and Suranjit came under scathing criticism by party supporters – who branded them as 'reformists'– for siding with the military-backed caretaker government that detained Hasina in jail and tried to exile her.

From the Grand Alliance partners, Hasina brought two leaders in the Cabinet – Commerce Minister Ghulam Muhammad Quader of Jatiya Party and Industries Minister Dilip Barua of Samyabadi Dal.

The cabinet approved on Monday a law to clamp down on pornography with a provision to jail offenders for up to 10 years.

A draft of Sonadia Deep Sea Port Authority Act 2011 also got clearance in principle at a meeting of the cabinet, chaired by prime minister Sheikh Hasina, her press secretary Abul Kalam Azad said.

The draft Pornography Control Act 2011 includes another provision of slapping Tk 500,000 fine, Azad said.

The cabinet approved draft of detailed and brief versions of president Zillur Rahman's speech to be delivered in the first parliament session this year, he said. The president will read out the short version and the detailed speech will be presented to the MPs.

The ministers also provisionally endorsed the draft of the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Control Act 2011, Azad said. Proposals to ratify SAARC Convention on Co-operation on Environment and Charter of the Asian Institute of Technology were also approved, he added.

PROTECTING HONOUR

Azad said the draft Pornography Control Act 2011 includes provisions to punish offenders with different terms in jail and different amounts of fine.

The act provides for punishing those who will give false information and file false charges, the prime minister's aide said. They will be awarded up to three-year jail term, he said.

The act bans production, preservation, transportation and marketing of any kind of pornography, Azad said and added abettors or the offenders will also face punishment.

Such crimes will be tried in a special court or tribunal.

Pornography has spread in society like a disease, he observed and said the law has been made to protect youths and the honour of innocent women.

SONADIA PORT

Japanese consultancy firm Pacific Consultant International conducted a feasibility survey on nine locations in the Bay of Bengal and recommended Sonadia as the best place for establishing a deep sea port.

Its report said the deep sea port would facilitate export-import not only for Bangladesh but also the Indian ports of Haldia and Kolkata and for the seven northern states in that country.

It will also contribute to transport of goods to Hunan province of China and Myanmar. The 96-jetty port will meet the needs of 400 million people in these regions.

The work is likely to begin next year and the entire construction will be completed in 2055.