October 21, 2025
DHAKA – The blaze that gutted the uninsured cargo complex of Dhaka airport on Saturday has laid bare a deep and dangerous negligence in risk management across government installations.
Only 86 government establishments, or 14.66 percent of the country’s 587 Key Point Installations (KPIs), are currently insured, according to Sadharan Bima Corporation documents. This leaves the vast majority of the KPIs completely uninsured.
These uninsured KPIs include strategic national assets like the Padma Bridge, Chattogram Port and Mongla Port.
Other critical sites such as the Bangabhaban, Gono Bhaban (now being turned into the July Uprising Memorial Museum), Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, the Secretariat, BTV headquarters, airports, and prisons also remain exposed.
In the absence of insurance coverage, damages from disasters such as fires, vandalism and accidents are ultimately borne by taxpayers.
Unless the government makes insurance mandatory for public assets, experts warn, preventable financial disasters will keep draining public funds.
“Without a binding requirement, most government agencies do not feel compelled to insure public assets,” said Mohammad Jainul Bari, chairman of Sadharan Bima Corporation.
Many institutions avoid insurance due to premium costs, he said.
“A small premium today could prevent massive financial damage tomorrow. Unless the government makes insurance compulsory, especially for high-value infrastructure, this situation won’t change,” he added.
Mohd Omar Faruk, secretary at the Chittagong Port Authority, told the Daily Star that no separate insurance has been taken out with any company because doing so would require paying premiums amounting to several crores of taka every month.
“We have a self-insurance fund, where a portion of the profits is allocated regularly. In case of any accident, compensation is paid from that fund, and this has been the port’s practice since the very beginning,” he said.
FIRE EXPOSES VACUUM
The fire at the import section of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport’s cargo complex burnt imported goods stored at the warehouse.
Industry insiders estimate the total loss could exceed $1 billion while businesses said the losses should not be seen simply at the import value of the items that were gutted. The ripple effects of the fire would heavily fall on both export-oriented garment and pharmaceutical industries, as well as businesses focused on the domestic market.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines and the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) are blaming each other over the cargo complex not being insured.
“The space and building belong to CAAB, but we rented it to Biman. Biman uses the building for their purpose,” said Air Commodore Noor-e-Alam, CAAB member (ATM), admitting that CAAB had taken no initiative to insure the facility.
Shakil Meraj, director (cargo) at Biman, said, “CAAB is the owner of the import cargo complex. Biman didn’t insure the infrastructure.”
NEGLIGENCE
This is not the first instance of massive state losses without compensation. During the 2024 quota reform protests, Dhaka Metro Rail suffered extensive damage from arson and vandalism.
The government received no compensation because the infrastructure was not insured.
A senior official at the Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) said the government took an initiative in 2023 to make insurance mandatory for all public and private buildings, and the Financial Institutions Division instructed IDRA accordingly.
But the plan has stalled.
Saifunnahar Sumi, media and communication consultant of IDRA, said insuring public and private buildings has now been incorporated into the draft Insurance Policy 2025.
Another senior IDRA official said that in 2023, a dedicated insurance product for public assets had been developed.
IDRA has also recommended amending the Building Code.
“Despite repeated government directives, the plan to bring all public and private buildings under mandatory insurance remains unimplemented,” said Adeeba Rahman, first vice-president of the Bangladesh Insurance Association.
“The issue resurfaces each time a major fire breaks out, but to no avail. Without insurance, there is no compensation.”
Citing the Dhaka airport cargo complex fire, she said, “Had it been insured, the government could have claimed compensation. Now the entire financial loss will be borne by the state, meaning the taxpayers.”
Md Main Uddin, professor and former chairman of the Department of Banking and Insurance at Dhaka University, said the failure stems from a “flawed mindset”.
“People think disasters are rare, so they avoid insurance. The government often shares that view. They don’t want to pay regular premiums for events that may not happen again for 50 years.”
He said limited government revenue, lack of awareness, and no legal obligation are the three major obstacles.
Because of low revenue, the government prioritises only the most essential expenditures and often overlooks the risk of major disasters.
“Insurance cannot recover lost time or business, but it ensures financial recovery,” Main Uddin said.
He added that many developed nations require insurance even for low-risk infrastructure. “It’s not about frequency. It’s about preparedness.”
If insurance were made mandatory, awareness would increase, said Main Uddin. Moreover, once insurance is made mandatory, incidents may decrease due to improved precautions, he added.
Selim Raihan, a professor at the Department of Economics, Dhaka University, and Fahmida Khatun, executive director at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, said the airport fire is a wake-up call for strengthening government security to protect all installations.
The low rate of insuring KPIs exposes a systemic disregard for financial prudence and national security, he said.
The fact that such high-value assets have no insurance coverage reflects not only poor governance but also a dangerous complacency in state planning, he said.
The broader implications of this negligence are deeply troubling.
“Without insurance, the full burden of any damage falls directly on the public purse… ,” he said.
Fahmida said, “National assets worth billions should not be left unprotected.”
“The government must urgently make insurance coverage mandatory for all Key Point Installations, backed by proper valuation, monitoring, and accountability. Without that, every blaze will keep burning public money and eroding public trust,” she added.