Narinjara News

Bangladeshi salt production deprived by black market

Dhaka, May 27: Bangladeshi salt production has declined because of the importation of cheaper salt from Burma. 

Bangladesh’s salt production will not reach its target of 950,000 tons this year, and is even expected to produce less than 800,000 tons.  This figure only amounts to 44.7% of the 1,790,000 tons of salt that were produced during the 1998-99 salt production season, according to statistics provided by the Bangladeshi Department of Statistics.

This decline in production is due to the smuggling of salt into Bangladesh from neighboring countries.  The local producers unable to compete with these cheap salt imports.

The Bangladeshi authority has stepped up the law enforcement in the border region, especially on the ocean.  On the 8th of May, the police seized three boats smuggling 81,000 tons of salt.

Burmese salt-smugglers bribe the local authorities of the military government and such dealings have been going on for more than a decade.  A boatload of salt in Akyab attracts a bribe of US$ 250, in order to obtain the clearance to be smuggled into Bangladesh, said a salt trader from Akyab. #

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