ZCZC
BSS–53
BIMAN-PROBE-COMMITTEE
Biman forms probe committee over 2017 Jeddah incident
DHAKA, July 15, 2020 (BSS) – The Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry today clarified the incident that Saudi Arabia fined Biman Bangladesh Airlines over Taka 1 crore for not disinfecting an aircraft in Jeddah as an out-of-date issue that was taken place in 2017.
In a statement, the ministry said Biman had paid the fines to the Saudi Arabian government at that time but management of the then national flag carrier didn’t carry out any internal investigation regarding the issue.
The Biman’s present management, that has been continuing an initiative to wipe out all irregularities from the state-owned airline, formed a departmental probe committee recently as soon as the Saudi Arabia’s incident came to its notice, said the statement.
The ministry said investigation over the issue is a must to check such kind of incident, relating to financial loss as well as protect Bangladesh’s image abroad, in future.
According to the Saudi Arabian health guidelines, every aircraft needs to be disinfected and after that the empty cans of disinfectant spray need to be kept for inspection of the Jeddah health department.
The statement said Biman has always been used to disinfect its aircraft on Dhaka-Jeddah-Dhaka flight.
However, it said, the Saudi Arabian authority fined Biman over Tk 1 crore in 2017 as the then on-duty Biman’s staffs had failed to show empty cans of the spray to the Jeddah airport authority due to their negligence.
On Saturday, Biman, in a circular, announced the formation of the three -member committee to investigate the incident with its manager ground services Golam Sarwar as the convener.
The committee has been asked to submit its report by July 30 after thoroughly investigating the incident, identifying the persons responsible and making necessary recommendations to prevent recurrence of such incidents in future.
BSS/PR/TA/KU/2033 HRS