Where ministers fear to tread

New Age
Xtra
December 1, 2006

Brokers at the cargo department of Dhaka’s Zia International Airport tell Syed Tashfin Chowdhury that the corruption in that department is so blatant and pervasive that even a government minister would face harassment and demands for bribes

Twenty-two year old, Abdul Wahed Nazir was devastated when an official at Dhaka’s Zia International Airport’s cargo wing told him that he will have to pay bribes of around Tk 16,000 to have four boxes of clothes, toys and some household items released from their store. The boxes belonged to his sister, who had moved back to Bangladesh from Dubai a week earlier and had sent some of their belongings by air-freight.

‘Some of our relatives had warned us that seeing those boxes again was unlikely and that we would face a lot of harassment, but I had no idea that it would be this impossible,’ says Nazir.

Cousins Nazir and Tamal said they have been coming to the Customs department of ZIA for the last five days, arriving around five in the morning and leaving in the evening, trying to negotiate the bribe down, to no avail.

Two days ago, they thought they had made a breakthrough. ‘The broker assured us that he can release our goods a smaller amount when he called us over phone last evening,’ says Tamal. Nazir had asked the broker about the maximum sum of money that may be required to get the whole process done. ‘He claimed that the amount would not exceed Taka 12,000 and so we left home accordingly this morning,’ says Nazir.

But after arriving at the customs department they were told that the sum has risen. ‘He had also assured us that the cargo will be out by 3 pm. But now he’s saying that it wont be possible till Sunday next week as Friday and Saturday will be closed,’ says Tamal.

Meanwhile, the two young men, who are from Sylhet, are seeing their hotel and food bills rising everyday, while they wait for the officials to act. He explains that they do not have any close relatives residing in Dhaka at whose place they can stay. ‘Also, if we now return to Sylhet, we will again need to return on Sunday,’ says Tamal.

As the cousins ponder what needs to be done, in the next one hour, the quoted amount rises to Taka 20,000 excluding the excise and customs tax. Finally, the two call Sylhet and ask them to send someone with the money on the overnight bus on Friday. ‘But we are still uncertain that we will receive our cargo by Sunday even,’ says Tamal.

As Nazir and Tamal wait for the outcome of the deal, the entire stretch of offices that stretch along the cargo wing at the airport are thronged by people in a similar predicament. Women in burqhas sit resigned, clutching their children, crying because they can’t pay the bribes to take away electronics their husbands have sent them from the Middle East, and men are pulled back and forth by rival brokers tempting them with lower bribes.

Even these are only a handful of the thousands who are constantly falling prey to the activity of brokers and the prevalent corruption at the customs warehouse at ZIA.

According to brokers at the cargo and freight companies that work with the airport officials, this huge rectangular office at the northern end of ZIA is one of the biggest corruption hotspots in the country. ‘The corruption has become so institutionalised in this office that even if a minister comes to get his goods, the petty officer would not think twice to ask him for bribes – they are such a powerful syndicate that you can never do anything against them,’ says Altaf Hossain, a CNF agent.

Aklima Khatun, a middle-aged migrant worker returning from the Middle East faces a similar situation. Aklima returned last week along with her baggage and a 21 inch television for her family in Chandpur. ‘After my arrival, the customs officers at the airport told me that I would have to come by later to release it from the customs warehouse,’ she says.

Although she did return the next day, she could not find an officer or anyone else who could provide her information about the paperwork she would need to fill up. She came by Shaheed, who introduced himself as a customs officer and wanted to hear her story.

‘After hearing everything he said that the taxes that I need to pay would be anywhere around Taka 16,000 to 20,000,’ says Aklima. She was naturally shocked to hear this. But instantly, Shaheed offered to clear the television if she paid him Tk10,000.

‘I did not have that much on me at the moment. I offered him Tk7,000 instead and after hesitating for a few minutes, he took the money,’ she says. Shaheed had assured Aklima of her television within late evening that day. But four days later, Aklima is still waiting for her television. ‘Within this time, he took another Taka 1,500 from me,’ she says.

As Shaheed could not be found, it was learnt from sources at the warehouse, that he and others like him are all brokers although they claim to be customs officials and staff. ‘They do this in order to gain the confidence of individuals trying to clear their cargo out of the warehouse,’ says Mainul, a freight forwarding agent at the warehouse.

He explains that these brokers act like good Samaritans coming forward to help and try to find out about the materials in question. ‘After learning about the material, they shake up the individual by giving him or her false information. Most of the time, they claim that the tax will be twice as much as the original price of the good.

‘As soon as the passengers begin to believe in their stories, they ask for help and that is when they ask their outrageous amounts. These innocent passengers miss out by trusting these brokers, some of whom have links with high- level customs officials,’ says Kashem, another freight forwarding agent.

While some passengers suffer, the clever ones and most foreigners resort to the expertise, skills and influence of cargo and freight forwarding companies in the customs department.

Around 500 small and big cargo and freight-forwarding (C&F) agencies forward their client’s freight through road, air and seaways. A significant number of these are using the airways and subsequently ZIA.

Despite their strong ties and business through the customs department, even these agencies are frustrated with the corruption prevalent, within the government institution.

‘Corruption, which has existed for over two decades or so inside this department, is making survival difficult for most of the small and big freight agencies,’ says Wahidullah, an owner of a freight-forwarding agency.

He explains that bribery is the only instrument that can appease the appetite for money of most of the Supervisors of the Customs department. ‘Money is paid to officials at every counter of the customs warehouse, be it inbound or outbound cargo,’ he says.

For inbound cargo, the trail of bribe begins from the very entrance of the warehouse.

‘The gatekeepers need to be paid a pack of cigarettes or any amount from Tk200 - Tk500. This amount gradually decreases as the gatekeeper gets to know the C&F company with time,’ says Taposh, a freight-forwarding agent.

The next is the customs department, where new agents pay Tk5 per kilogram of cargo they are trying to release. ‘This amount is only Taka 1-2 for old agents,’ says Wahid.

Most small CNF agencies on an average receive around 25 tonnes of goods while the big ones receive around 100 tonnes. ‘As such, any new and small company loses around Taka 1,25,000 while the old ones lose around Taka 50,000 as bribe, at this level, daily. The bigger ones cough up Taka 2 lakhs, at this level daily,’ says Wahid.

The next level are the officers, who receive payment in any one of two methods from these companies. The payments depend on the volume of cargo being received or sent daily. ‘We pay our officer on a monthly basis and depending on our large volumes, the officer receives around Taka 3 to 5 lakhs each month,’ says the owner of a C&F agency.

Such amounts are also paid to officers of the space booking section, in order to allocate available spaces on the planes for outbound cargo. ‘Its like an illegal auction where freight companies of all sizes compete. Nobody wants to dissatisfy their local and foreign customers through delayed deliveries,’ explains Wahid.

In such situations, most small agencies are eliminated from the queue as they cannot pay such huge sums of money to the booking section officers. ‘Big companies always have an advantage of influencing the authorities as they can pay the most bribes to the supervisors of all the departments,’ said Latif, a personnel of a small freight forwarding company.

The next phase of corruption for outbound cargo, occurs during the measurement and the sealing of the goods. ‘Each Duty officer in the measurement section charges around Tk 50-100 per shipment while Tk 3 per kilogram of freight that needs to be sealed properly,’ said Tarek, a freight forwarding agent.

Tarek pointed out that most freight forwarding agents, maintaining a value-laden relationship with the officers at the sealing section, usually get away by paying Tk 1 to 2 per kilogram of cargo. ‘Most of the time the cargo may not even go through on the desired date, if the Duty officers of this section are not satisfied with the payments they receive from the agency,’ said another freight forwarding agent.

The next level is at loading where at the first phase each loader charges around Tk 5-6 per carton. At the second phase of this level, the Duty Officer of the loading section charges Tk 2.5- 4 per kilogram of cargo. ‘With three to four thousand cartons being carried by each flight, each loader makes around Tk 4,000 to Tk6,000 illegally from each flight. While, the Duty Officer at this level makes over Tk 22,000 per flight,’ says Tarek.

A bribe needs to be paid even to the typists, who print the bills essential for each shipment. ‘Here we have to pay around Tk 200- Tk300 for each bill,’ said Kamrul, an agent.

These amounts, paid by CNF companies, further vary based on destinations and on the type of cargo. ‘The bribe amount is usually larger when the cargo is going to destinations in Europe,’ says Tareq. He explains that European countries are the largest buyers of leather and ready-made garment goods. ‘The customs officers are aware of this detail and they ask for more for these,’ he says.

The less profitable flights for the officers are those flying to Eastward destinations like China, Japan and Middle East. ‘They know that the cargo being sent contains perishables like crabs, tortoise, eels, frogs, and vegetables. Therefore, the payments for these goods are usually less,’ says Wahid.

Although, this illegal system of bribery has existed for over decades, CNF companies have their reasons for not complaining to higher authorities.

‘Corruption stems from the lowest staff up to the highest levels, who tend to look after each other. Complaints would result in losing out hugely in business,’ says Wahid.

As most of these officers and the staff at the customs warehouse and the customs house are members of large and influential unions, some agents and owners fear for the security of their lives. ‘Not only would my company never get their cargo through the customs area ever if I complained, but there is also a chance that my employees or staff may even be murdered,’ says the owner of a CNF company.

Despite numerous attempts, the senior officials of ‘Customs House’ could not be reached to comment on the situation.

‘A number of dedicated freight forwarding companies and the businesses and industries dealing in export and import will be greatly facilitated, if the corruption at the customs frontier is stopped,’ says Latif.

Meanwhile, as their 9th day in Dhaka comes to an end, Tamal and Nazir have finally managed to have their boxes released. The inspectors rifle through the boxes, just to make sure that the men aren’t taking away valuables in the boxes, saying they are old clothes. ‘The agreed amount came to around Tk15,000 and they have promised not to calculate tax on the goods,’ says Nazir. As they enter the cargo godown to claim their boxes, Aklima is still sitting by the bank counter where the man who claimed to be Shaheed has left her since the afternoon.

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