The Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB) has demanded that the dishonest traders who made off with crores of taka by forming a syndicate in the broiler chicken market be brought to justice and strictly punished. Otherwise it will hold human chains and protest rallies across the country, it said.

Leaders of the consumer rights organisation made the demand of the government at a human chain in front of the National Press Club on Thursday, 30 March, calling for punishment of those responsible for manipulating the prices of broiler chicken and other essentials.

Speakers included the organisation's vice-president SM Nazer Hossain, CAB general secretary Advocate Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan, CPB general secretary Ruhin Hossain Prince and Mohiuddin Ahmed, convener of Bangladesh Sadharan Nagorik Samaj.

CAB vice-president SM Nazer Hossain said dishonest traders had formed a syndicate in the broiler chicken market and made off with thousands of crores of taka by picking consumers' pockets. Swift legal action must be taken against them, he said. "I have heard that cases have been filed with the Competition Commission against the corporate companies that formed the syndicate. But we are doubtful about which way the merits of the cases are going and what their future will be. We want the Competition Commission to make this clear."

He added that the names of those behind the broiler syndicate have reached the government, and the government should now take proper action against them. "Our one demand is that strict action be taken against those responsible for manipulating broiler chicken and other essentials. Let them be punished. They must not be let off with token cases."

If the government does not act after this human chain, CAB will hold protest rallies and human chains across the country, he said.

CAB general secretary Advocate Humayun Kabir Bhuiyan said those who raised prices and plundered consumers' hard-earned money must be identified and punished.

CPB general secretary Ruhin Hossain Prince said broiler chicken had exposed many faces in Bangladesh's market. The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection had earlier shown how much it costs to produce a broiler chicken and how much it sells for in the market. "Through this one episode we understood how much money has been looted. A government agency itself proved it," he said.

"Behind broiler chicken the sugar syndicate was hidden, and behind broiler chicken big business syndicates were hidden. Many of them are talking about broiler chicken today but not about their own looting. I want to say: do not make people suffer in the month of Ramadan. Take steps to keep the prices of essentials bearable," he said.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.