Md Toriqul Islam, Tentulia
Even in the midst of this corona epidemic, the only quadrilateral Banglabandha land port in Tentulia upazila under Panchagarh district has maintained growth in revenue collection.
According to the Banglabandha Customs Office, the target set by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) for the Fiscal Year (FY) 2020-21 was Tk 33.43 crore whereas a revenue of Tk 61.14 crore has been collected there exceeding the target by almost twice.
Earlier, when the revenue collection target was set at Tk 31.59 crore in the 2019-2020 FY, Tk 21.64 crore was actually collected. In 2018-2019 FY, the target was fixed at Tk 36.79 crore but only Tk 25 crore was collected.
Similarly, in the 2016-2017 FY the collection target was Tk 36 crore but only Tk 18 crore or half of the target was acquired. In the 2015-16 FY, the target was set at Tk 60 crore whereas, Tk 35.40 was collected in reality.
Jahangir Alam, Joint convener of the Banglabandha C&F Association, said imports of high-duty goods had declined due to the epidemic. If the port infrastructure is developed in proportion to the demand, it is possible to collect double amount of revenue.
Abdul Latif Tarin, President of Banglabandha Import-Export Group and Kudrat-e-Khuda Milon, General Secretary said, “Banglabandha is the only quadrilateral land port in the country.
Due to the close geographical location of the port with three other countries, a large amount of revenue is collected every year there. Even in this pandemic, the revenue has doubled beyond the target. We expect that the collection of revenue from this port will make a significant contribution to the national revenue sector if the incidence of corona decreases.”
Mobin-ul-Islam, Assistant Commissioner of Banglabandha land port, said officials at all levels were working at the risk of life at the land port during the Corona period. Due to the tireless work of the officials and the cooperation of the traders here, it has been possible to collect almost double the target revenue.
He further said that this land port has immense potential due to its geographical location. If trade with China starts in the future, it will become the largest land port in the country and will add a new dimension to the national revenue collection.
