It was indeed a tragedy for Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan to have lost three of his nieces, who drowned along with more than 100 passengers in a launch accident in the Padma in August. Overcrowded with around 250 passengers, three times its capacity, Pinak-6 was operating on a temporary permit issued illegally by ship surveyor Mirza Saifur Rahman of the shipping department. The body of only one
of Shajahan's nieces was recovered. The two others with many other passengers were unaccounted for and feared dead, as the sunken vessel remained untraced and the salvage operation abandoned. But Shahjahan Khan seems to have quickly forgotten his failure as a minister and also his personal loss. In less than two months after Saifur's suspension for negligence, the minister pressed the shipping department to reinstate him to “ensure navigational safety”. Sources alleged Shahjahan was persuaded to do this by Saifur's father-in-law, who, like the minister himself, is an influential leader of transport workers. The minister's pressure was so intense that the department had to write to the ministry to withdraw Mirza Saifur's suspension on November 13, the day after the surveyor applied for it, added the sources. Advertisement The shipping ministry reinstated him by the end of November and posted him at the ship survey office of Dhaka river port, where he was posted when the Pinak tragedy happened. This was done ignoring the department's plea that should Saifur be reinstated at all, he should be posted outside Dhaka because he was facing a number of legal and departmental actions. In early October, the shipping department charged Saifur with negligence in duty which caused the deaths of more than 100 people. A probe committee formed by the shipping ministry in its report on September 14 also held him directly responsible for the disaster. The department suspended him a week later and also initiated moves towards final departmental action against him. Contacted, Shajahan Khan said he had instructed the shipping department to reinstate Mirza due to shortage of ship surveyors. Otherwise, water vessels would go unsafe without survey. “There are only four surveyors to look after around 10,000 registered water vessels in the country and we cannot afford to keep one of them suspended,” said Shajahan. When pointed out that his ministry held Mirza liable for over 100 deaths, a departmental procedure was underway, filing of a case with the marine court was pending and the Anti-Corruption Commission was probing his alleged corruption, the minister said, “It is the reality; the department needs to reinstate him under compulsion.” Asked if he was influenced by Mirza's father-in-law, the minister said, “It is a false allegation.” Mirza had issued temporary fitness certificates thrice to Pinak-6 in violation of law, ignoring several faults he himself identified in the vessel. The existing law allows temporary permit for a vessel once, and for 45 days. Shipping department Director General Commodore M Zakiur Rahman Bhuiyan said, “It is not lawful to withdraw suspension of an employee when a departmental action is underway. “So, we sought a decision from the ministry in this regard.” The ACC has meanwhile initiated a probe into anomalies in registration and survey of 56 water vessels done by Mirza Saifur between April last year and July this year. The anomalies cost the government crores of taka in revenue, sources said. Eight people, including Pinak-6 owner Abu Bakkar Siddique Kalu, his son Omar Faruk Limon, previous owner Moniruzzaman Khokon, master's assistant Golam Nabi Biswas, greaser Sabdar Molla, terminal leaseholder Motaleb Howlader, Yakub Bepari and Abdul Hai Sikder have been sued with the marine court in connection with the capsize. Only Kalu and Limon are behind bars, while the other accused are at large. The court ordered their arrests on October 2. A few hundred people have died in at least 64 launch accidents since Shahjahan Khan took office as shipping minister in 2009.
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