Corruption at Chittagong costs US$130m annually
Importers and exporters working at Bangladeshs leading seaport of Chittagong pay an estimated US$130m in bribes every year, claims a report by the Berlin-based anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International which reviewed transactions in the port between July 2003 and June 2004. There are 37 separate points where bribes are habitually made, notes the report, although illegal payments to Customs officials for goods clearance alone accounts for US$112 million.
In comparison, vessel loading and unloading added just US$6.8m to the overall cost of moving goods through the port. The report also emphasises that US$11.7m in bribes were required to smooth the passage of export consignments through Chittagong.
Bangladesh’s Shipping Minister rejected the report’s finding of widespread corruption. “It’s completely baseless, ” protested Akbar Hossain. Chittagong port authority chairman AMM Shahadat Hossain followed suit noting: “The report is full of misconceptions, wrong information, confusing statistics, heavy exaggerations and falsifications.”
Nevertheless, the report notes that the taking of tips and bribes is so well established as to have become accepted practice making Chittagong an expensive port to do business with. To make matters worse, the Londonbased International Maritime Bureau has characterised Chittagong as the world’s second most risky port for doing business with.
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