Narinjara News

 

 

Cox’s Bazar,  4 July 2005
 


Bangladesh Bagged 540 Million Taka from Border Tariff Last Year

 
The Bangladesh customs office received 540 million Taka in tariffs from the border trade post at Teknaf, on the southern Burmese border, during the 2004-2005 financial year.

Abdul Gufur, the officer in charge of Teknaf Customs said, “during the last 12 months, Taka 54 corers were collected from the Teknaf Office alone for the national treasury."

Teknaf is located at the heart of the border trade. However, since illegal trading is now flourishing along the border, the Customs office has not been able to collect all the available revenue.

“If we could station more Police, BDR (Bangladesh Border Security), and Army personnel in the border regions, we would be able to stop the smuggling problems and collect more revenue,” continued the same officer.

At the same time, poor infrastructure and transportation facilities is also hindering development of the border trade to its full potential.

“Although there were many glitches during the last year trading, 540 million in revenue is good news for
Bangladesh€ť said the officer.

The Teknaf Customs post is located in Kawro Tawlee village, 3 kilometers from
Teknaf Town. All boats with goods from Burma have to come through the Customs post. Teknaf is located opposite Maung Daw, Burma, across the Naff River.

On the Burmese side, tariff collection and foreign exchange at
Maung Daw Township are operated by a Singaporean company under contract with the military government.

Thus, Burmese Customs has not been able to give a figure for revenue collected from the border trade. In fact, Burmese government normally does not make any revenue collected public information, said a prominent businessman from Maungdaw.



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