Transit fees for Indian goods not fair: BNP

BNP today said transit or transhipment fee at Tk 580 per tonne for Indian goods carrying through Bangladesh is not acceptable.

“We are not against giving transit or transhipment to India as it is our neighbouring country that helped us during our Liberation War. But we want a fair amount of transit fee as India will be hugely benefited,” BNP Spokesperson Asaduzzaman Ripon said while addressing a press conference at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office.

Ripon said the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has earlier proposed fees of Tk 1,000 per tonne for the transit and transhipment facilities.

But the proposal was rejected in the face of opposition from Moshiur Rahman, economic adviser to the prime minister, Ripon said, adding that Moshiur once said it would be “uncivilised” to ask for any fees for the transit facilities.

An inter-ministerial meeting on Wednesday ignored the proposal and fixed Tk 580 as transit fee which is against the interest of Bangladesh, the BNP spokesperson said.

“We think the government reduced the transit fees to please India as the government is morally weak,” Ripon observed.