2024-09-23 11:03:22
The current government accounts for a lot of the state money expenditure. In a meeting with the officials and employees of the Ministry of Planning, Finance and Trade Advisor Salehuddin Ahmed gave a clear message about this. He said, the money for big projects will be considered for concessions. Lifestyle and business purchases will be prioritized.
The decision was reflected in the number of meetings held by the Advisory Council Committee on Government Procurement and the Advisory Council Committee on Economic Affairs after the formation of the government. The meetings also approved proposals for import of fuel, fertilizer and fertilizer raw materials, import of rice, wheat and local procurement of lentils and soybeans for TCB.
The government has decided that only the purchase proposals to meet the most important and urgent needs of the agricultural and industrial sectors of the country will be approved from now on. Unnecessary and less important purchase offers are being eliminated. It has been decided to inform all ministries and departments about this.
It is learned that the proposal to build two buffer warehouses in two parts of the country to store imported fertilizers for agricultural use in different parts of the country was raised in two consecutive meetings, but it was rejected both times. The construction cost for these two buffer warehouses was estimated at Tk 120 crore.
According to related sources, Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) has taken the initiative to build two buffer warehouses in Mymensingh and Netrakona to facilitate the storage and distribution of fertilizers. The total area of the two warehouses is estimated to be 46,625 square meters and the total fertilizer capacity is 35,000 metric tons. Out of this, the warehouse in Mymensingh has a storage capacity of 25,000 metric tons and the warehouse in Netrakona has a storage capacity of 10,000 metric tons.
According to BCIC sources, the matter of appointing contractors through open tender for the construction of two warehouses was taken up for the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Public Procurement last Wednesday. But the proposal was not approved. It has been said that there is no need for this project for now. Objections were also expressed in the meeting regarding the appointment of contractors. More transparency and competitiveness in the recruitment of contractors has been suggested.
Sources said that tenders were invited on September 15, 2023 for the construction of two warehouses and 7 contracting firms bought the tenders. But only one contracting entity (NDE-AC) jointly participated in the tender within the stipulated time for submission of tenders. According to the proposal mentioned in the tender, the total cost of construction of two warehouses was estimated at Tk 119 crore 50 lakh.
To ensure conservation of agricultural fertilizers in the country, the government took up a project in September 2018 to construct 34 buffer warehouses from BCIC in different parts of the country under the Ministry of Industry. The project is expected to be completed by June next year. Later, in April last year, the 1st revised proposal of the project was approved in the Eknek meeting. At that time, the latest total estimated cost of the project was estimated to be around Tk 2,483 crore.