Sarwar Wadud Chowdhury condemns the announcement of selling edible oil in drums in the open market.
Sarwar Wadud Chowdhury, General Secretary of the National Coordination Committee against Corruption, has strongly condemned the announcement of the Trade Advisor to sell edible oil (soybean and pump oil) in drums in the open market.
He made this demand in a human chain in front of the National Press Club at 11 am today, Wednesday.
Sarwar Wadud Chowdhury said, “The Advisory Council must be fully formed with honest and sincere patriots to save the country in accordance with the people’s desire to form a revolutionary government through the resignation of the President.”
He requested the Chief Advisor of the Interim Government to quickly disclose the assets of government officials and employees to the public.
The Trade Advisor demanded the immediate resignation of the advisor for announcing the sale of edible oil (soybean and pump oil) in non-food grade drums in the open market in violation of the law.
Former UN judge Dr. Md., a member of the National Coordination Committee against Corruption, Professor Dr. Syed Md. Shamsuddin, Ed. also spoke at the human chain rally chaired by Shahjahan Saju. Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan, Setara Rezvi Lucky, Dhaka Metropolitan North Joint Convener Shawkat Ali Khan, Member Secretary Abul Kalam Azad, Engineer Monir Ahmed, Engineer Morshed Amin, General Secretary of ASAAD Parishad Shamsuzzaman Milon, Founding President of National Youth Union AKM Fazlul Haque, Nurul Huda Chowdhury Milu, Zakir Hossain Khan, Mahfuza Akhter Moni, Nafiz Mahbub, Adina Khan, Poet Kazi Alam, Jewel Lal Sarkar, Anwar Hossain Rumi, Bishwajit Saha of Bangladesh Pet Flex Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Mujibur Rahman Emon, M Hafiz Ullah, Haji Badrul Islam, Haji Sohel, Gias Uddin Arju, Shamsul Karim Naser, Faruk Pathan, Asadur Rahman Ripon, Mahmud Azam Palash, etc.
In Bangladesh, according to the Edible Oil Vitamin ‘A’ Fortification Act-2013 and the Edible Oil Vitamin ‘A’ Fortification Rules-2015, it is mandatory to enrich all edible oils with vitamin ‘A’ at a prescribed level. A recent study by the ICDDRB says that 59% of edible oils marketed in drums are not enriched with vitamin ‘A’ and 34% of edible oils do not contain the correct level of vitamin ‘A’. Due to the use of unsafe edible oils in open drums, the tendency of people to suffer from various chronic diseases is increasing.
According to Article 18(1) of the Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, the state is responsible for the development and protection of public health. Although there is a law, its implementation could not be possible due to Covid. Later, the government extended the deadline for marketing open soybean oil to 31 July 2022 and the deadline for marketing open palm oil to 31 December 2022. After that period, it was ordered to ensure that 100% of edible oils are marketed in food-grade bottles, plastic foil or pouch packs. According to the law, marketing edible oil in unsafe packaging, i.e., drums without food grade, is a punishable offense.
However, despite the existence of laws and regulations, the trade advisor recently said, “For a month now, we have been buying and consuming open soybean oil from the market, and the quality of open and bottled soybeans is the same, the only difference is the price.”
The National Anti-Corruption Coordination Committee strongly protested against the trade advisor’s statement.
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