Tk 1.5cr rubber stolen from Madhupur gardens in 4 yrs
Theft is main problem for profit-earning BFIDC gardens, officials say
A rubber garden of BFIDC in Madhupur.Photo: STAR
Raw rubber worth at least Tk 1.5 crore was stolen from profit-earning rubber gardens of Bangladesh Forest Industry Development Corporation (BFIDC) under its Madhupur zone in last four years, official sources said. Unofficial sources however claimed that raw rubber worth around Tk 5 crore was stolen during the period. Talking to this correspondent, BFIDC officials admitted that theft of raw rubber is the main problem, which continued despite deployment of security personnel in gardens. They said a section of garden staff could be involved in incidents of theft. Rubber gardening was started in the area in 1987, covering on 8,000 acres of forestland. Four gardens have been raised in Pirgachha, Chandpur, Sontoshpur and Komlapur in Madhupur upazila in Tangail district. Commercial extraction of raw rubber started in 1994. The gardens started earning profit in 2003-2004 financial year. So far, they earned a total profit of Tk 29.34 crore by selling rubber in domestic markets, official sources said. About 2,000 tonnes of rubber were produced in the gardens during 2006-2007 financial year, which earned a profit of Tk 12.50 crore. The profit was Tk 10.50 crore during FY 2005-2006. This correspondent during a recent visit to the rubber gardens talked to BFIDC officials of Madhupur zone, garden workers, workers' leaders and local residents. Assistant Manager Tozammel Hossain said the extracted rubber was sold in auction to buyers including Bata Shoe Company and Gazi Tyre Industry at BFIDC sales centre in Dhaka. "We earned a profit of Tk 25 lakh by selling rubber in July ", he said. Tozammel and some other officials said the profit could be more if rampant theft of raw rubber could be stopped. To stop stealing, 48 security guards were appointed in 2005 to guard the gardens. Of them, 24 were deployed in Chandpur and 12 each in Sontoshpur and Komlapur gardens. A process is on to appoint more 12 security men for Pirgachha garden, the officials said. Patrol teams comprising security personnel and BFIDC officials patrol the gardens. Several cases were filed with Modhupur police station. Thirteen people were arrested and six truckloads of stolen raw rubber were seized in last one year, the officials said. An organised gang of thieves are engaged in stealing raw rubber. Most of them are from Madhupur upazila in Tangail and Muktagachha and Phoolbaria upazilas in Mymensingh, sources said. The gang engages local poor people at small remunerations for stealing rubber from gardens, they said. The authorities sometimes recover stolen rubber and take alleged thieves into custody but this did not produce any result, they added. An official seeking anonymity said several leaders of rubber garden workers and some raw rubber collectors are involved with the gang. Several illegal markets have sprang up in Madhupur in Tangail and Phoolbaria in Mymensingh where the stolen rubber is sold at throwaway prices. Some buyers from Dhaka come to the markets and purchase the stolen rubber, they claimed. Official price of rubber is around Tk 150 per kilogram but it is sold at between Tk 50 and 60 in the illegal markets, they said. Unabated stealing also damages rubber plants as thieves collect raw rubber by cutting the skin of plants indiscriminately, some garden inspectors said. BFIDC Assistant Engineer Nazrul Islam said the stealing can not be stopped as the gardens have been raised in four different areas in an unplanned way. It is difficult for small security teams to guard those. Besides, residences of local people in the garden areas is also a problem, he said. When contacted, BFIDC's Madhupur Zone General Manager Abdul Halim Sarkar, said theft can not be stopped due to inadequate number of security personnel and lack of fences around gardens. "We are virtually helpless as it is very difficult to fencing such big and scattered gardens. Thieves may steal fences also", he added.
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