Report in three days if Brazilian wheat okay

The High Court yesterday ordered the health secretary and the director general of the Directorate General of Food to report in three days whether the wheat imported from Brazil is suitable for consumption.

Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman passed the order on a writ petition filed by Dhaka Judges Court lawyer Pabel Mia.
The court will hear the issue on July 5.

The petitioner also sought the HC's directives on the Anti-Corruption Commission to launch an investigation to find whether corruption was committed in the import.

Meanwhile, terming Food Minister Qamrul Islam "corrupt" for the import of the "substandard" wheat, BNP yesterday demanded his removal.
"The government's image will be brightened, not dented, if a corrupt minister is sacked," BNP spokesperson Asaduzzaman Ripon told a press conference at Nayapaltan office.

He said the minister should resign on his own accord if he had a "minimum sense of shame and responsibility".
The party also demanded an explanation why the wheat had to be imported.

The government has recently imported 2 lakh tonnes of wheat from Brazil for Tk 355 crore, and 90 percent of the payment was made.
BNP said most of the wheat was rotten and unfit for consumption.

Though a test report of the food ministry, published on Wednesday, claimed the grain was "not rotten" and "not unfit for consumption", Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research's tests said the wheat was substandard. 

On June 20, the food minister told parliament that the government would not import wheat from Brazil anymore because of its poor quality.
"We won't import Brazilian wheat anymore. If necessary, we'll destroy the already imported wheat upon receiving the test reports. The wheat looks bad," he said.

Quoting media reports, the BNP spokesman said, "The police force refused to accept the imported wheat. Now it is being allocated for the poor... It's a matter of deep sorrow that the wheat that police rejected is being distributed to the poor."

Ripon also lambasted the government for "obstructing" the release of BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, by filing writ petitions against his bail.

"We would like to make it clear that the government won't be benefited by trying to brand the opposition leaders criminals through implicating them in false cases. It's a bad move and detrimental to politics and all political parties,” he said.