Photo: Collected
Reptiles Farms, a crocodile farm owned by Prashanta Kumar Halder alias PK Halder in Bhaluka Upazila of Mymensingh, has been sold for Tk 38 crore. Recently, the non-governemnt organization Uddipan bought the farm in an auction, manager of Reptiles Farms Ltd Mohammad Arif said.
He said that in 2004, entrepreneur Mushtaq Ahmed started the country's first crocodile farm called 'Reptiles Farm Limited' with only 74 crocodiles on about 15 acres of land in Hatiber village of Uthua union of the upazila. Later in 2013, PK Halder and his associates bought the farm from Mushtaq Ahmed. PK Halder took a loan of more than 57 crore taka from International Leasing and Financial Services Limited to expand the farm. The firm's land was used as collateral.
Mohammad Arif also said that the loan amount was later increased in favor of the firm in 2015 and 2016. Against the mortgaged land worth 4 crore 28 lakh taka, the amount of outstanding defaulted loan has reached about Tk 108 crore.
It was found that since 2019, International Leasing was unable to recover the outstanding loan due to the absence of the persons in the management of the farm. Besides, due to mismanagement, food shortage and financial crisis, the number of crocodiles in the farm decreased over time. Later, following a petition by International Leasing, the High Court constituted a six-member board of directors in March last year. In this Dr Naeem Ahmed is the Director and Enam Haque, an internationally recognized crocodile expert, has been appointed as the Managing Director.
Enam Haque, said that the purpose of establishing the farm was to export crocodile skin. In 2020, the operation of the farm came to a standstill due to the corruption case against PK Halder putting farming of crocodiles under threat.
He said that the current management board opened the farm for tourists in February this year to meet the expenses. Tickets are priced at Tk 150 for adults and Tk 100 for students. It is open for tourists daily from 9 am to 5 pm.
Regarding the sale of the farm, Enam Haque said, non-banking financial institution International Leasing and Financial Services Limited sold the farm due to non-payment of loans. The highest price has risen to 38 crore taka. An NGO named Uddipan is interested in buying the farm. It is now repaying the auction fund. PK Halder's loan will be repaid with the money got from farm sale.
Managing Director of International Leasing and Financial Services Moshiur Rahman said the reptiles farm was auctioned as part of debt recovery efforts. Uddipan offered the highest amount during auctions for farm acquisitions. The farm was sold for around Tk 38 crore, which is very reasonable price, against the huge amount of outstanding debt.
Meanwhile, since 2014, 1,507 crocodile skins have been exported to Japan from the farm, said Mohammad Arif, manager of Reptiles Farms Limited. The international selling price of each skin is 500-600 dollars.
The farm started its journey in 2004 with 75 crocodiles imported from Malaysia. At present, there are 3,700 crocodiles in the farm.
TDM/AB
