‘Vehicles brought by ex-MPs not being sold at auction’

Vehicles brought by former MPs under duty-free facility have been lying at Chattogram port for a long time. These vehicles are not being sold at auction.

Chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) Abdur Rahman Khan said this in a meeting with customs officials and stakeholders at the Chattogram Customs House on Friday.

He said, “We had put the vehicles up for auction. However, we did not get the expected results. Now, we are thinking of alternatives. Some government agencies have made proposals, they want to take the vehicles at 60 percent of the prices. But, we do not want to sell the vehicles at the price of water.” 

The NBR chairman said, “The cost of each vehicle is 8 to 9 crore taka. If we do not get a suitable price, we will discuss with the higher levels of the government how to make better use of them. I am not in favor of scrapping these vehicles for years. This decision will be taken soon.”

The activities of the customs house will be shifted to the World Trade Center in Agrabad for interim period, he said.

The NBR chairman also mentioned that due to the complexity of the Automated System for Customs Data (asycuda) its brand value has decreased. So, plans to develop a new modern technology within next two years.

NBR members Moazzam Hossain, Kazi Mostafizur Rahman, Mubinul Kabir, CCH Shafi Uddin and leaders of the Customs Officers C&F Agents Association were present.