State-run Bangladesh Milk Producers’ Cooperative Union Limited or Milk Vita has lost four out of the five thousand acres of pasture owned by it to illegal grabbing.

The Parliamentary Committee on Public Undertakings has expressed concerns over the fact that the cooperative was yet to take measures to reclaim the property.

Committee Chairman A S M Feroz told Bangla Tribune that a lion share of the five acres of pasture allocated to Milk Vita by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibir Rahman in 1973 has come under illegal occupation.

He said that Milk Vita authorities have never taken legal measures to reclaim the property and the grabbing has been effected in collusion by certain officials of the Land Office and employees of Milk Vita.

The Parliamentary Committee on Public Undertakings discussed the matter at a meeting held on Tuesday (Aug 20) and recommended that inefficient and corrupt officials working at Milk Vita be sacked.  

The committee expressed its dissatisfaction when Milk Vita chairman Sheikh Nadir Hossain Lipu failed to attend the meeting.

The meeting discussed a range of issues related to the cooperative including the presence of lead in pasteurised milk produced by many companies and the fall in Milk Vita’s annual profits.

Committee chairman A S M Feroz has cautioned the cooperative to produce safe pasteurised milk that was free from toxic elements such as lead, antibiotics and bacteria.

Minutes from past committee meetings revealed that a 14-point recommendation had been proposed by the PM’s office based on investigation reports to restore the company’s profitability last year, including a proposal to take action to reclaim lost property.

Sources said that most employees at Milk Vita had no knowledge of these proposals.

A S M Feroz said that Milk Vita has been directed to implement the proposals which it had failed to carry out last year.