SHILLONG: The president of Meghalaya International Exporters Chamber of Commerce (MIECC) has urged Chief Minister Conrad Sangma to allow perishable commodities to be exported.
The president of the organisation, Dolly Khonglah, met the chief minister on Monday and dwelt on the international border trade with Bangladesh at Dawki Land Custom Station (LCS).
Khonglah said an order was issued on August 2 to restart the export, following which the MIECC made all the necessary arrangements as per the SOP such as wash basins from custom office stretching till the check gate, three spray machines and PPE for drivers.
Stating that the exporters had loaded the tomatoes after the order, she said it was revoked on the evening of August 4, and a meeting was called on August 6.
“The truckload of tomatoes has gotten rotten. On the part of the organisation, we felt it was useless to attend the meeting,” she said.
The loss incurred is Rs 2 lakh. Usually, 700-800 trucks travel in a day.
Expressing concern, she said the market may be diverted even as she said that markets such as Dalu and Mahendraganj in Garo Hills have restarted.
“It will be diverted to some other place if we delay to restart the market. How will we survive? Our livelihood is at stake, which will result in a rise in crimes across the international border. We are trying to revive the state’s economy,” she said.
Khonglah said there are pressure groups and traditional heads who oppose the international trade due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sounding annoyed, she said, “They are taking shelter in COVID-19”.
“Without any export, COVID-19 has entered Lamin and even the death of pigs happened at Lamin. Even COVID-19 has affected Amlarem without entering Bangladesh,” she said.
Stating that that the people have to live with the virus, she said that waiting for the virus to be over is not predictable.
“We informed the chief minister that we have suffered great losses due to the slackness of the district administration wherein the order was issued on August 2 but was withdrawn on August 4. This is nothing but delay tactics to please someone. We will expose it slowly,” she said.
Asked on the losses, Khonglah said that there are heavy losses to the government revenue and foreign exchange.