Low quality of imported goods, a small profit margin and high costs of
transportation are discouraging dealers from doing business with the
Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) in Sylhet.
Sources said the state trading organisation is selling essential
consumer items from June 23-July 16 to control prices in the open
market. However, until Saturday, only 18 out of 143 appointed dealers
of the Barisal region collected goods from TCB, said,
officer-in-charge of TCB Sylhet.
Although the prices of TCB goods are low, they are of poor quality,
said Sume Akter, a homemaker, on Saturday.
Other customers complained that many items were imported earlier and
not stored properly.
Moreover, dealers can make a profit of only Tk 3.50 per kg or litre on
average from TCB goods, and that includes system loss, transportation
costs and employees’ salaries.
For example, dealers have to sell sugar at Tk 44 per kg against the
open market rate of Tk 48, and soybean oil at Tk 105 (open) per litre
to Tk 121 (bottled) against Tk 120-130.
There are also allegations of TCB goods being sold in the black market
due to lack of official monitoring.
Meanwhile, Faruk Ahmed Misbah, Presudent, Sylhet Chamber of Commerce
and Industri, claimed that one of the causes of TCB’s failure to
control the market was political influence in selecting dealers due to
pressure from the ruling party, instead of genuine businessmen.
Shohidul Islam, deputy commissioner of Sylhet, denied any
politicisation in the selection process, saying dealers were chosen by
a committee based on recommendations from lawmakers, local government
representatives and administrative officials. -Our Correspondent
