Nurul Amin, president of Bangladesh Organization (BO), said Uddin is making claims that not only mislead Bangladesh workers in Palau, but also the people of Palau.
According to Amin, there are more than 500 Bangladesh workers in Palau and more than half of them are members of the BO.“Uddin’s claim that the BA has more than a hundred members is just ridiculous,” Amin said. “He is leading the Bangladesh people in Palau and the citizens of Palau to believe that his organization has members.”Moreover, Amin said that the BA has approximately 15 members – a tiny fraction of the Bangladesh population in Palau.Amin said that the BO held its presidential election on July 17, 2008. He was elected president.Results of the election indicate that 375 Bangladesh workers voted – 247 votes for Amin and 128 votes for Kamal Uddin.“Our group has almost 400 members,” Amin said. “Mohi Uddin has been running around making claims, otherwise. He is confusing everyone.”Another Bangladesh worker said that Mohi Uddin appointed himself as president of the BA. There was no election.“Mohi Uddin speaks for less than 20 Bangladesh workers,” the worker said. “If he was really looking out for the welfare of the Bangladesh workers in Palau, he should have joined our group or work alongside us. Instead, he has marched around making claims that he represents the Bangladesh workers, which is not true.”Amin said that he had negotiated an agreement with the Ministry of Health (MOH) for all Bangladesh workers that he represents. Mohi Uddin followed suit and established a similar agreement with MOH on behalf BA.“I have nothing against Mohi Uddin and he could have talked to me prior to establishing a similar agreement with MOH,” Amin said. “We could have joined forces and united our people. Instead, his actions are causing confusion.”Amin said that he hold a meeting with members of his group to explain the recent publicity of the BA. In addition, through this meeting Amin hopes to get an accurate count of Bangladesh workers in Palau and their exact employment location.“We will invite Uddin to the meeting,” he said. “ I hope he joins our meeting so that our differences could be settled once and for all.”Mohi Uddin could not be reached for comment. However, a member of his group, in a phone interview, said that the BA did not have an election, but as soon the association has enough people, a formal election would be held.
