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          Never before one public sector organisation troubled another of the same variety so much for settlement of debt as it is now being witnessed in the case of the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) and the Biman Bangladesh Airlines.
Last Friday, the BPC stopped supply of jet fuel to some aircraft that operate on domestic routes for non-payment of arrear amounting to Tk. 5.07 billion. This caused cancellation of a number of domestic flights by Biman on that day.
However, following requests from the civil aviation ministry, the BPC resumed fuel supply with a condition that supply of the same to all Biman aircraft would be stopped if the latter failed to pay its dues by Sunday last.
The cash-strapped Biman authorities through the state minister for civil aviation and tourism sought intervention of the highest office of the government to ensure uninterrupted supply of fuel oil to the Biman.
The BPC agreed to continue supply of fuel until Eid-ul-fitr but warned the Biman that supply would be snapped again if the latter failed to repay its arrear bills.
The state minister, apparently, perplexed by the crisis, has decided to discontinue some loss-making domestic and international flights, a decision that should have been taken by the Biman long ago to improve its financial position.
However, one may ask a valid question: why has the BPC suddenly become so aggressive to recover its dues from the Biman? Actually, the BPC itself is in a very difficult situation as it has been failing to repay a huge amount of money it borrowed from the nationalised commercial banks (NCBs) for the import of petroleum products.
The banks are pressing the BPC hard to pay back the funds estimated to be more than Tk. 50 billion. Moreover, because of the serious mismatch in procurement and sale prices of petroleum products, the BPC incurred a financial loss of Tk 2.7 billion during the last financial year. So, one does need to understand the BPC's predicament also.
It has been often found that public sector organisations do deliberately withhold payments to each other. The public sector providers of utility services such as power, gas, water and telephone have been facing serious problems in recovering dues from the government and other public sector entities. Such a practice needs to be stopped immediately. Otherwise, service providers might follow the BPC footsteps, creating an embarrassing situation for some organisations.
The on-going row over arrear payment has again brought to the fore a symptom of deeper malaise in the Biman that calls for taking immediate remedial measures.
Since day one of its birth, the Biman could never project itself as a dynamic and efficient airliner. It always wears an emaciated and rickety look. In the world of civil aviation it has been a back bencher having nothing to mention about it. But what are the reasons behind its lacklustre performance?
Mismanagement, corruption and highhandedness of the trade union (TU) bodies have been rampant. There was a time when the TU leaders called the shot and the management was virtually subservient to them.
The situation has improved a bit over the years but it is far from ideal.
On the international route, most of the aircraft the Biman is operating are either used ones or taken on lease. The present Biman fleet is ageing and requires immediate replacement. Besides, the airliner is finding it difficult to maintain its regular flight schedules as grounding of its aircraft for technical problem has become a regular feature.
For shortage of aircraft, the Biman is reportedly actively considering leasing out seven of its profitable South Asian routes to the private operators. The Biman has the option to operate planes in 72 international routes. But it operates only in 26 routes for a variety of reasons, including shortage of aircraft.
Enough of time has been wasted in finding so-called strategic partners or on corporatisation issues. To save the national flag carrier, the government has to move fast to streamline the Biman affairs. For how long should the Biman management move from door to door of the powerful quarters to intervene on their behalf to ask the creditors from taking harsh actions?
The jet fuel row has made it quite clear that the Biman is seriously ill and needs immediate surgery if the government really wants to save it from dying a slow but painful death. For the Biman, there is no quick fix solution. The board of directors of the Biman recently took a decision to offer 61 per cent of its shares to the members of the public. The board should not back out from the decision and try to implement it to corporatise the Biman as early as possible.