Govt moves to run 12 hatcheries under PPP

FE Team | Published: December 29, 2012 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

Syful Islam
The government has moved forward to run its 12 hatcheries under public-private partnership (PPP) initiative, official sources said.
Earlier, some of these hatcheries had been run by some organisations and individuals on lease.
"We have decided to run these hatcheries under PPP initiative since those have been incurring loss," Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock (MoFL) Shamsul Kibria said.
He said individuals or organisations having experience in this field will get chance to run the hatcheries on public-private partnership.
Officials said the government has taken the move to go for PPP initiative for the hatcheries since these 12 failed to go for full-fledged operation this year because of lack of necessary infrastructure and equipment.
They said the hatcheries need to be re-dug, their infrastructures are not up to the mark for use, there is smaller manpower, and they have no boundary wall.
The hatcheries are located in Gabtoli and Kahalu of Bagura district, Homna and Chandina of Comilla district, Melandoho of Jamalpur district, Kalihati of Tangail district, Bheramara and Kumarkhali of Kushtia district, Tala of Satkhira district, Fulgazi of Feni district, Mirsorai of Chittagong district, and Jhikorgachha of Jessore district.
Of the hatcheries five started operation in the sixties, one in the seventies, and six in the eighties.
Officials think that instead of leasing out the hatcheries, operating those under the PPP will be more profitable. So, the ministry has decided to send proposal to the PPP office for necessary actions so that the hatcheries can be run on public-private management.
The government leased out 20 hatcheries to Grameen Fisheries and Livestock Foundation (GFLF), a sister concern of Grameen Bank, in 1988. After several years the government took return of 15 of them on expiry of date.
In March 2011 the government 'by force' had taken back the rest five profit-making hatcheries from the GFLF which are now incurring loss.
After taking office the Awami League government introduced the PPP formula and kept Tk 25 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2009-10 for the same. But the fund could not be utilised because of bureaucratic tangle.
The government kept Tk 30 billion for the PPP scheme in last two fiscals but also could not utilise any single penny. In the current fiscal year another Tk 30 billion has been allocated for the PPP scheme and some eight projects have been selected for the same.