Tk 10 crore timber rotting in Khagrachhari
Timber is lying under open sky at a range office of the Forest Department at Jamtali under Dighinala upazila in Khagrachhari district. Photo: STAR
Timbers worth about Tk 10 crore are being damaged at various range offices of Forest Department in Khagrachhari due to negligence of officials concerned and a High Court 'stay order' on inviting tender to sell them. The forest officials seized the timbers during their routine raids while being smuggled or from illegal possession. The wood is lying under the open sky uncared for at different range offices, sources said. Besides, the Ministry of Forest and Environment recently introduced a system called 'Sealed tender system' instead of the open auction system to sell the seized timbers. Under the new system, it asked the forest department to arrange and conduct all its tender bidding and selling procedure at Kalurghat Central Depot in Chittagong instead of respective range offices. The timbers were stockpiled on the range office premises as the traders of Khagrachhari filed a writ with the High Court against the new system. It will not be possible to sell the timbers until disposal of the writ, sources said. The new system is a major hurdle for the small traders as they will not be able to participate in the tender due to financial constraint, traders alleged. The small traders said under an open auction system all could participate and purchase timber according to their requirement and demand. The timbers kept uncared for and unprotected for several months are being decayed gradually and both the government and the merchants are counting loss. "Timbers worth around Tk 10 crore are being damaged in Khagrachhari and similar situation is prevailing at ranges of Rangamati and Bandarban too," alleged Mohammad Shahajuddin, general secretary of Khagrachhari Timber Merchant Welfare Association. He said the government should take necessary steps to resolve the problem to pave way for selling of the seized timbers as early as possible. "The government every year buys timber from abroad in exchange for huge foreign currency to meet the internal demand. Import of such costly timber would not be required if the government takes initiative and introduce an effective system like open auction," Shahajuddin said. Deputy Ranger of Chittagong North (Naraichhari range) said they seized 46,434 cubic feet timber worth about Tk 6.55 crore and those are kept under the open sky on the range office premises at Jamtali under Dighinala upazila in Khagrachhari. He said they couldn't call tender to sell the woods due to stay order by the High Court and the valuable timbers are getting rotten. Besides, timber worth about Tk 1 crore (7,000 cft) and Tk 70 lakh (5,000 cft) are kept on the Hazachhara and Merung range premises respectively, sources said. Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Ali Kabir said they seized around 15,000-cft timbers worth over Tk 2 core from eight range areas but could do nothing due to the court order. He said the higher authorities should take immediate action to solve the problem.
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