Editorial
A very public spat centring Biman affairs
It undermines the government's image
The very public bickering between Minister of Civil Aviation GM Quader, the parliamentary standing committee and the authorities of Bangladesh Biman is predictably raising a good number of questions in the public mind about the national flag carrier. That Biman has always been in a poor state of health has never been in any doubt over the last many years. It has had falling revenues owing to a reluctance on the part of people to fly it. Such reluctance again has had to do with the regular propensity on the part of the airline to delay flights or for its aircraft to develop technical faults that have consistently left passengers stranded for days. On top of everything, Biman has for years been seen as a victim of corruption indulged in by large sections of its officers and employees.
These are truths no one can deny. The very fact that Bangladesh Biman was transformed into a public limited company by the last caretaker government was a clear recognition of what needed to be done to retrieve the airline from the morass it was trapped in. It should have been on the rail from there on. But now that the minister, the head of the parliamentary standing committee concern and chairman of the Biman board of directors have brought their squabbling out in the public domain, it is natural that questions will arise over the propriety of such an act. We believe the minister certainly meant well when he questioned what he thought was a lack of transparency about the way Biman has been working. He was clearly exasperated about Biman's unwillingness to accept his ministry's authority, especially where financial decisions were the issue. More importantly, the minister has pointed to the presence of a vested interest in Biman which is busy scuttling any plans toward ensuring efficiency and good service by the airline. There is a hint of allegations against the minister. The minister's discomfiture is palpable, so much so that at one point hints were given out that he was about to quit the cabinet.
Perhaps an argument can be made that Quader ought to have raised all these issues before the cabinet or even in Parliament. But what clearly is a matter of disappointment is the manner in which the chairman of Biman's board of directors and its managing director-cum-CEO reacted by pointing to differences between the secretary and the minister of civil aviation. There are certain rules and norms that government employees as well as those engaged in public limited companies must follow. However, the minister and the secretary have made it clear that there is no discord between them. If in future ministers and employees of the republic engage in similar public quarrels, what will that do to the image of the Biman and that of the government itself?
It is time for the cabinet to study the Biman situation in its entirety. The prime minister and her cabinet colleagues must also reflect on how best the minister, the parliamentary standing committee and Biman authorities can work together. But what has arisen out of the bickering must be probed. A system which is riddled with feuding and internal squabbles with no delineation of jurisdictions is certainly in need of reform.
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