It is disgraceful that eight people, including a photojournalist bystander, were injured in Barisal, following fights between competing factions of the BCL and Jubo League over submitting a bid for an LGED tender.
This is not the first time where activists from these organisations have been involved in violent disputes over money and tenders.
If the ACC and government are serious about rooting out corruption from public procurement, they need to review whether political organisations, particularly those with a reputation for thuggery, should be permitted to bid for public contracts of this type in the first place.
The approval of tenders should not be forced or manipulated by political influence, whether from the ruling party or otherwise. In this case and others, BCL activists should not have been allowed to use muscle to push their own bids for projects in the first place.
Our business sector is hugely hindered from flourishing by the deep levels of corruption and intimidation found across the country during the granting of tenders.
The chaos that ensued at the Barisal LGED premises on the last date for tender submission, shows a blatant disrespect for the rule of law, and the sense of entitlement felt by political goons when it comes to getting favours from the government.
Tender manipulation is illegal, the precise events of this clash need to be clarified, and the guilty parties brought to book. Authorities must ensure that undue favours are never being granted.