The New Nation - Internet Edition

Boosting the housing sector

REAL estate business is an important sector of the national economy. According to an estimate, nearly 20 lakh labourers and five thousand engineers and architects are directly engaged in this sector. It is claimed that this sector makes a 15 percent contribution to the GDP. The housing sector is actually a big cross-section of the economy. A large number of backward linkage industries provide about 200 types of products and services to the housing sector. The development of these products is largely influenced by the growth of the housing sector.

The government is reportedly going to promulgate an ordinance on private sector housing to remove irregularities in the sector. The Council of Advisers of the Caretaker Government has recently approved the ordinance. But the real estate businessmen are strongly critical of the ordinance draft. According to them, the proposed ordinance would create obstacles to the development of this fast growing sector. Terming the ordinance draft as not suited to the time they asked the government to review it and called for setting up an arbitration tribunal to address the complaints of customers.

Some rules and regulations are essential to seal the loopholes, if any, in the sector and keep it under discipline. But those should not amount to creation of obstacles to its vibrant growth. Shelter or housing is a fundamental night of the people. It is estimated that at least two million new houses are needed to meet the present demand. There is no housing project for the common people and, as such, it is difficult to meet the huge demand. The authorities concerned should develop appropriate plans for housing that would make shelter affordable to the vast majority of the people. For this participation and cooperation of the private sector would be inevitable.

The talent crunch in Asia

A RECENT study, as reported in the media, has found that Asia's workforce is becoming more individual-focussed, with employees changing jobs more frequently and searching for better opportunities. This shifting set of cultural norms and changing value of employees is expected to lead to 'a significant turnover rate' in critical talent roles, especially at the managerial and entry levels in the next three to five years. The study also has shown organisations have been replacing seniority-based employment, with an emphasis on results and performance.

The relatively small talent pool in Asia has resulted in a leadership crisis in many organisations, which may impede its further growth and development. The emphasis on performance and customer orientation also means that employers will have to provide their staff with greater independence, flexibility and challenging work, if they want to attract, motivate and retain the best workers. More than 80 business leaders and senior human resource practitioners in China, India and Singapore were polled for the study that was carried out by Hewitt Associates, Global Leader for Talent and Organisation Consulting as commissioned by the Singapore government ministry of manpower.

'We are now seeing a 'super-charging' of these issues - shortage of talent and lack of experienced leaders - in environments where companies are trying to grow 10 to 50 per cent", an analyst was quoted by the media to have said. The rapid flow of capital from West to East, where more than a billion dollars a week, for instance, flows into China to establish new business, continues to sustain these challenges'. The findings of the study will be presented, discussed and debated at the upcoming Singapore human capital summit on 'People Strategies for Asia' in October next when leaders and representatives would exchange views on the pressing issues concerned with industry and economy.

Bribe defaces bureaucracy

Maswood Alam Khan

If someone as an official can process five files in a day but has ten files in front of him the person who has an emergency to get his file processed will pay him some incentives to get his file cleared first; it is a simple bribery. But it is a clear extortion when the official stops processing even five files without the incentive. Such extortion-like bribery is an established reality in Bangladesh as is in many other countries like India, Pakistan, China, and Indonesia where bribe is deemed the best lubricant of government machinery.

The Oxford English Dictionary defines corruption as a willingness 'to act dishonestly in return for money or personal gain'. There is a difference between bribing an official to do something legal (e.g. bribing a civil servant to speed up the process of acquiring a document of some sort) and bribing an official to do something illegal (e.g. bribing a teacher to give a student a good mark in an exam when in fact the student didn't pass).

There are various reasons why corruption takes place and takes hold. Sometimes it is due to the fact that officials are simply not paid very much and so they need to supplement their salaries with money from bribes. Sometimes the bureaucratic system is set up in such a way that officials simply refuse to carry out their duties unless they are encouraged by being offered bribes.

As long as the government makes it mandatory for its citizenry to stand in long queues to get services from only monopolistic public institutions there will never be an end to bribery or extortion. Unless all the government offices are completely privatised the menace of bribery will persist; of course, in that case the number of private offices must be proportionately commensurate with the volume of jobs and clients. Example: mobile phone service providers in Bangladesh. I have at least never heard of any subscriber offering bribes to an agent of any of the private mobile phone operators.

The other way to combat the menace is legalization of bribery itself---though such proposition sounds a bit weird. There are instances in the West where governments had to legalise some crimes in order to monitor who is doing what and to ferret out underground operators of the crimes.

Drugs have been legalised in many European countries after the governments had found it impossible to check and control international drug cartels. By legalising purchase of drugs from stores in the open market the government could earn some revenues, take a respite from their expensive hunts for drug peddlers, and invest time and energy, thus saved, on how to influence the drug world with a view to reversing the deadly courses of drug addicts.

In a similar vein, our government may legalize bribery in offices where officials are loath to process files without incentives. The office of land registration, more known as Sub Register's Office in Bangladesh, may be taken as a pilot project where legalization of bribery may be experimented.

If you as a newcomer visit a Sub Register's Office in Bangladesh to get your purchased land registered and ask a 'pen pusher' in the front desk what he did mean by 'office expenses' written in pencil on the demand note he would look blank and say he had no idea what you were talking about. He would consider you a mad cap!

Nobody questions why he has to pay extra money in addition to official fees for registration and stamps because for more than 100 years people of Bangladesh have been greasing the palms of those officials who deem such extra earnings their legitimate income.

During my recent visit to a Sub Register's office near Dhaka one middleman who volunteered to help me register my newly purchased land claimed he was very close to the chief boss of the office because he supplies the necessary stationery and logistic supports to the office for free. A clerk of the office said grudgingly:

"The government does not supply even the indelible ink to soak stamp pads needed for thumb impression on registration documents. We had to procure indelible ink illegally from the local Election Commission Office who had stock of such ink meant for voters' thumbs."

Most of the furniture and office tools in a Sub Register's Office are privately bought and employments are also offered unofficially to get volumes of monotonous works like copying, stamping, bookkeeping etc. done by part-time workers who are not in the office payroll. The result is: prompt and on-time delivery of services with no cost to be borne by the government.

Government officials in Indonesia are low paid employees and amazingly they don't shout slogans to raise their pay and perks.

The government of Indonesia incredibly keeps their eyes shut to what people are doing with public funds as long as the government finds that the public projects are completed in time in line with the best international standards. Therefore, in spite of gaining notoriety for bribery Indonesia is not as visible to Transparency International as Bangladesh is.

The basic difference between Indonesia and Bangladesh in respect of corruption by public servants is that Indonesia does not compromise with the quality of goods and services and their timely delivery even if the cost goes a little high; while Bangladesh cares least about the quality and delivery schedules but cares most about the lowest prices and the highest bribes.

Indonesian government allows every stakeholder a 10 percent allowance (bribe) to keep in his/her pocket on condition that the quality of the products or services is not compromised under any circumstances, no matter if the price is hiked by a few percentages.

The stakeholders try their best to help the government recover the loss so incurred for allowing bribery by expediting the implementation work and ensuring the best quality of the products and the services. The result: a visitor to Indonesia finds the airport equipped with the best amenities and their railway no way inferior to that in the West.

On the other hand, in Bangladesh the work is awarded to a company who offers the lowest (never the best) possible price for delivering a product or a service and each and every stake holder, all the functionaries of the work giving authority from the top to the bottom and the contractor equitably defined, chisels his share of ten percent or more out of the project. The result: everybody---a beggar in the street, a customs official at the airport, a receptionist in a hotel---cries to beg dollars from a tourist and the tourist does not find water pouring from the bibcock in a public toilet.

Legalising bribery is cowardice on the part of a government. The best way however to fight bribery is to segregate the front office from the back office so that the individual service providers never come in contact with the recipients of the services. A glaring example of such segregation that has been proven amazingly successful in Bangladesh has been set in our passport office.

In the list of grand successes made possible under the present caretaker government one success story that has become a part of family folklore is how the passport office, which was once a den infested with middlemen collecting bribes, has all on a sudden taken on a forlorn look with employees now passing their workdays with no extra income, thanks to a bold decision to entrust the outlets of Trust Bank (a bank under the ownership of armed forces) as front office of the Passport Department to collect all kinds of fees in connection with issuing new passports and renewing the old ones leaving the main passport office as the back office to process the work, just like a factory.

Another strategy to cope with the menace of bribery could be the replication of how the private operators of mobile phone companies are catering to the services of phone subscribers.

A revolutionary change can also be brought in Bangladesh if services now being provided in the government offices of land management---the root of 80 percent litigation in our courts of law---could be computerized through digital mapping with the aid of Global Positioning System (GPS) the way Bangladesh Army made possible the issuance of national identification cards with digitalised photographs and finger prints.

Bribe, kickback and commission are buzzwords heard day in and day out. The situation has reached a point where, for all major contracts with the government, the percentage is an accepted norm known by both the giver and the recipient.

Businessmen and contractors dealing with the government do not complain, because what they pay to bribe government officials is charged right back to the government. But a man on the street cries because to get even small things done he has to pay from his own pocket without any scope to recover the amount of bribe from anybody else.

Not only is bribery commonplace in our country it now has a job description. There are standard bribe costs in every transaction like in getting caught while jumping a red light, for immediate railway seat, for a driver's license in a hurry, to pay to peon to see his boss, for a clerk to move a file, to purchase a cinema ticket, to have your phone repaired etc.

Those who are corrupt---especially those indulging in petty corruption---are often heard saying, "See, even the prime minister and other ministers get briefcases full of money. I am, after all, a poor person. The inflation rate is so high; I have my family to look after. I have marriageable sons and daughters. What does it matter if I also accept some money?"

The woes of expatriate workers

Md. Masum Billah

Though Bangladesh occupies the position in the list of poorest countries of the globe, it has some unique phenomena as a nation. Language movement, freedom fighting, enviable position of armed forces in the UN mission and fertile land are the unique examples Nature has ingeniously adorned and arranged the globe and global phenomena. Some parts boast of natural resources, some parts resources on land, some barren, some fertile and somewhere just citizens are technically important. To main the balance probably it has been done.

Bangladesh is overpopulated due to its geographical situation. Here manpower is a wealth. Many countries of the world need population. For want of population they cannot afford to do many things they want to do due to the lack of population. The overpopulated countries can send there manpower this message, disorder and irregularity follows. Many Bangladesh people live and work in many countries of the world in various capacities with much appreciation and success. Even, many invented and discovered many new things. Some, earned world acclamation. Whatever place they work in and whatever work they do, they deserve due honour and prestige first as Bangladeshis and then as human beings. Dishonoring and breaking human rights is tantamount to serous crimes.

The Kuwaiti government announced that it would deport Bangladeshi workers involved in violence during recent unrest over low pay. South Asian workers in Kuwait including hundreds of Bangladeshi staged demonstrations and went on strike on demanding better working standards and pay.Newspapers in the Gulf kingdom reported that some workers are paid as little as eight Kuwaiti dinars amounting to 2000 a month. Since the incidents of unrest, the Kuwaiti government said that it would increase the minimum workers salary to 40 diners or 10,300. However, Kuwaiti authorities announced they would examine video footage and photographs of protesting workers to find out those responsible for damaging vehicles and attacking police. Kuwaiti police arrested 800 Bangladeshi workers during demonstration of whom 300 were later released as no charges could be substantiated against them. Kuwaiti government assured Bangladeshi mission that all innocent workers will be spared after investigation.

This situation has not emerged suddenly. It is the result of long labour unrest which remained suppressed. A series of harrowing tales follow which are simply crimes against humanity. In some cases it was found that some workers were withdrawn from job without any reason or prior notice. They are kept idle for several months without salary or food. Workers who speak out their grievances are invariably victimized. The supervisors, foremen and managers abuse and beat them up with hands and if the matter is reported to the Arab bosses, they even kicked them. Vocal workers are victimized and deported with false cases. Though they were promised KD 50 but paid 18 a month.

Some of them are forced to work 16 hours a day without overtime payment while managers of a company beat up. Some workers for no reasons deduct 5KD per day if they fail to turn up due to illness.The company compels them to buy plane ticket from a certain travel agency which charges exorbitant fares. Shahriar Kader Siddiky, labour councilor in Kuwait embassy said, " Many workers could not go on leave over the last 8 or 10 years as the company didn't allow them. " even if a worker is granted leave for returning home, company charges KD30 as security money for getting passport deposited with it . But they never get back the money. Many workers are forced to sign job contacts that are different from they signed before their arrival.

Bangladesh Army has achieved international fame and acclamation. They are highly honored in different parts of the globe where they have got the opportunity to work as peace keeping forces. On the other hand, Bangladeshi workers have been seriously humiliated outside the country. They were given inhuman treatment which has once again let down the fame of this country. Our government must give due consideration to the facts that army, labour and garments are very flourishing and promising industry of this poor nation. All these three industries are fattening our national economy considerably. All these three industries must come within the purview of the government's top priority. What our Bangladeshi missions do abroad? Our missions cannot afford to sit like gentlemen wearing coat and tie and just do some routine work. Our poor country's ministers don't have time just to inaugurate and scissor the tapes to open and inaugurate a shop, an origination etc. in the same way our high officials of the foreign mission just do the routine work and enjoy government salary which they get at the sweet labour of these three industries.

Serious active, capable, innovative, courageous and patriotic people must be posted in the foreign missions. For the last two decades with some possible exceptions, these appointments were done purely on political ground. Every tier of the state machinery has been punctured and vitiated by nasty political games. We cannot expect any patriotic treatment from them for the country. It is a common allegation all over the world that Bangladeshi missions don't bother about what Bangladeshis do outside the country. Whenever, anybody falls in any problem, they hardly come forward with helping hands. This notion and attitude must be drastically changed. When Bangladeshi workers are humiliated and harassed by Kuwaiti police, how can Bangladesh mission sleep? Is this disgrace for a particular section of workers? These workers represent our dear motherland. Their disgrace means the disgrace for the whole nation. It always seems Bangladeshi missions have any headache with this matter. What kind of patriotic feeling they hold in their bosom?

Battered by employees and cheated by agents 45 Bangladeshi workers returned from Malaysia on August 11 after staying there over one year with bruises all over their bodies.The returnees spent over two lakhs taka each to get an overseas job. Bangladesh High Commission in Malaysia did not address their issues and they had to leave the dreamland with has now turned into a nightmare.

IMA Research Foundation at Dhaka organized a conference where many cheated workers expressed their bitter experiences in Malaysia. One said that he went to Malaysia in a group of 40 through Recruiting agency named Mark Overseas in July last year and was employed in a plastic company in Kelang at monthly RM700. "We were told that we would work 12 hours a day but we had to work 18-20 hours. In case of any single mistakes, the Chinese boss would beat us up".

The workers were given work target and if anyone failed to fulfill the target the boss used to hit them hard. 15 workers fled the company in less than a month as they could no longer endure the torture."We told our agent Kamal of Vital Manpower in Malaysia that we could not tolerate the tortures anymore. After two months he withdrew us and assured of arranging alternative job. But Kamal took them to a hotel and he himself disappeared. These kind of incidents and events are taking place continuously but the response of Bangladeshi mission registers very very poor. Instead of addressing the human rights abuse issue that has been going on for years in the emerging economically developed countries. They don't bother about conducive working atmosphere and the welfare of the workers, rather they pounce on the workers on time and occasions treating them just like slaves.

By virtue of petro-dollar the Middle Eastern countries imported workers from third world countries in 1970s and 80s and would pay them comparatively handsome salaries. Now their development works have almost been finished. The demand of labours has decreased. To meet the increasing demand of manpower in those countries, in the private sector many recruiting agencies have sprung up. Very weak government controlling system and the corrupt officials have made avenues for exercising illegal and unpalatable ways and rules. The victims are the workers who sell their cultivable land to procure the necessary amount.

Both Foreign Welfare Ministry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs work in very close cooperation to retain the interest of expatriate workers. They must have regular meeting with the employees of foreign companies, recruiting agencies working in Bangladesh, their branches aboard and the foreign companies where these people work. They must have regular meeting and sharing sessions with the workers to boost up their morality.

They remain away from their near and dear ones, when Bangladeshi mission officials will talk to them, definitely they feel invigorated. All the rules and regulation must be well known to them and they must publish these in national dailies and in all news media so that the common people know the picture of work abroad. Now what happens, our mission and labour unit actually does not know where, how and when our workers are sent aboard, where they work, in what situation they work They must shoulder huge responsibility when they are in foreign mission.