Govt buying 10 Airbus aircraft to get commission: Fakhrul

The government is buying 10 Airbus aircraft from France for gaining commission, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has alleged.

"The government can't provide healthcare, build hospitals, or ensure voting rights, yet they intend to purchase 10 Airbus aircrafts and are also trying to purchase Satellite-2," he said at a rally on dengue prevention in front of the BNP's Nayapaltan office yesterday.

"What has happened? It's said that 10 Airbus aircraft will be procured. Their (govt's) real goal is to get kickbacks on this Airbus. Do you understand kickbacks? It means commission," UNB reports quoting Fakhrul.

The BNP leader said there is no scope to get a commission by procuring Boeing. "That is why 10 Airbus planes are being purchased."

After a meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday, French President Emmanuel Macron thanked Bangladesh for their "commitment to 10 Airbus A350."

"I thank you for your trust in the European aerospace industry," Macron said in a statement to the media.

Fakhrul, also a former state minister for civil aviation, questioned the justification for buying 10 Airbus planes for Biman Bangladesh Airlines when the state-run organisation had collapsed. 

"Biman also can't provide any service properly. They're purchasing the Airbus aircraft for creating scopes for stealing (public money). They (govt) have probably cut the commission immediately."

Later, the BNP secretary general inaugurated the three-day leaflet distribution programme taken by Dhaka South unit BNP to create public awareness to control the dengue outbreak.

Commenting that the government failed completely to prevent dengue, Fakhrul said, "This government is more dangerous than dengue. Everyone needs to work together to remove them."

Claiming that the mayors of Dhaka North and South are unelected, Fakhrul alleged they have stolen crores of taka meant for dengue prevention.