Mishandling of luggage, coupled with harassment, has become almost a regular part of passengers’ itineraries at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.
Around 30 incoming passengers have to leave the airport everyday without their luggage. In April over 150 lost luggage complaints were lodged, 60 of which were filed by passengers carried by Emirates alone.
Two to five Bangladesh Biman passengers lose their luggage on a daily basis, said Sharifur Rahman, assistant station manager of the Directorate of Customer Service of the national flag carrier.
On top of that there are regular complaints about packed items being stolen through luggage tampering including slashing, and long delays in putting luggage on carousels for passengers to pick up.
When luggage are lost, owners have to face bureaucratic run around to lodge complaints and recover the luggage, many passengers alleged.
The number of complaints is lesser during the lean season between March and October, but during the peak season between November and February it rises to over 1,000 a month.
Every year the airport handles approximately 35 lakh to 40 lakh passengers, while 22 international airlines including the national carrier use it daily.
Mishandling and tampering of luggage is going on at the airport despite the fact that since 2001 personnel of the Armed Police Battalion, Ansars, civil aviation security, and Biman security have been keeping watch while luggage are unloaded from craft.
During a three-hour visit to the airport recently, The Daily Star came across five passengers from the Middle East who lost their luggage.
The airport authorities pointed out a number of factors which contribute to the problems.
The Ground Handling Department of Bangladesh Biman handles entire luggage load of incoming and outgoing passengers manually, with 180 employees while the requirement is for 300, Sharifur Rahman said. Aviation experts said the lone international airport in Dhaka still uses primitive procedures and equipment for baggage handling which contribute to the delay in luggage being put on carousels for passengers. http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=149288
2. Police notice on 2 BNP leaders stayed
The High Court on Wednesday stayed for four weeks the operation of a notice issued by Paltan police asking BNP leaders Barrister Rafiqul Islam Miah and Shah Moazzem Hossain to appear before the police station in a charge of threating Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The higher court also issued a rule upon the government to explain within four weeks why the notice of the Paltan police should not be declared illegal.
An HC bench came up with the order following a writ petition filed by the BNP leaders challenging the legality of the police notice.
Earlier on Monday, a Judge of another HC bench felt embarrassed to pass order on the same petition and sent it to the chief justice.
Chief Justice Mohammad Fazlul Karim on the same day sent the matter to another bench for hearing on the petition and the bench today holding hearing on the matter passed the order.http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=25141
3. EC flip-flops on own law
Dhaka: Breaching the law on political parties’ registration, the Election Commission yesterday decided to give ruling Awami League and 16 other political parties two more months to submit their financial transaction reports.
EC officials explained the decision as a step to "avert possible conflict" with the parties that did not submit their financial reports before deadline.
According to the Political Parties’ Registration Rules 2008, a party must have its financial transactions audited by a chartered accounting firm and submit a copy of the report to the commission by July 31.
Although the deadline expired Saturday, the EC allowed the political parties to submit their report on Sunday, as July 31 was a public holiday.
Of the 38 parties registered with the EC, only 21 including BNP, Jatiya Party and Jamaat-e-Islami have turned in their reports for the calendar year 2009.
Earlier on July 21, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami sent a letter to the EC asking more time for the submission of the party’s report. The EC, however, declined the request on July 26 saying the rules do not allow that.
The same day the EC sent letters to all registered political parties asking to submit the reports within the timeframe.
On Sunday, Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) ATM Shamsul Huda said there was no scope to extend time, as the time limit is specified in the registration rules.
But the EC at a meeting yesterday decided to push the deadline by two months without amending the law. www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=149290
4. Graft charge against Mahmudur accepted
A Dhaka Court on Wednesday accepted the charge against Mahmudur Rahman, acting editor of the daily Amar Desh, in connection with a corruption case filed for not submitting his wealth statement to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
After scrutinising the case docket and other documents, Judge Ismail Hossain of the Senior Special judges’ Court, Dhaka passed the order and fixed September 8 for hearing of the charge framing against the accused.
The court also rejected a bail petition submitted by Mahmudur’s lawyers.
Earlier on July 15, the ACC submitted the charge sheet against Mahmudur to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court, Dhaka showing 11 people as witnesses.http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=25137
