The government is forced to spend public funds almost three times higher than the actual estimation of the maritime safety project of the Department of Shipping (DoS) as it is delayed for eight years.
As the DoS failed, insiders said on Saturday, the government extended the execution deadline five times and thus revised the scheme for five times too.
Repeated delays will not only take 11 years and a half for completion, the failure has also swelled cost by 151.56 per cent to Tk 9.326 billion from that of original estimation of Tk 3.71 billion, officials concerned told the FE.
The state-run entity in January 2014 undertook the 'Establishment of Global Maritime Distress and Safety System & Integrated Maritime Navigation System (EGIMNS) Project' at Tk 3.71 billion for completion in December 2016.
The then Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC), chaired by deposed premier Sheikh Hasina, approved the project.
It aimed at installing seven coastal radar stations, including a NAVTEX station, building a command & control (C&C) centre in Dhaka, installing GMDSS and IMNS operation systems at C&C centre and coastal radar stations.
Once completed, Bangladesh expects some benefits like improvement of maritime safety through sophisticated navigational assistance and ship navigation management, enabling real-time communication between ships and the shore, and fulfilling international conventions.
As the DoS failed to implement the project even after repeated extensions of the deadline, chief adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus at the last ECNEC meeting endorsed the fifth revision (including a special revision) of the EGIMNS project with boosting time and costs, according to Planning Commission officials.
They said the ECNEC first revised the Tk 3.71-billion EGIMNS project increasing its cost by Tk 850.60 million to Tk 4.56 billion and the time for two and a half years up to June 2019.
The DoS, which is under shipping ministry, failed to complete the work again and the government was forced to revise it for the second time boosting the cost by an additional Tk 2.311 billion to Tk 6.87 billion.
The deadline was extended for another two years up to June 2021.
The DoS made a further delay and the government was forced to revise it for the third time, boosting the cost by another Tk 924.60 million to Tk 7.795 billion.
Then again, the deadline was extended for three more years up to June 2024.
At the request of the DoS, the government gave a special revision to the project hiking the cost by another Tk 392.60 million to Tk 8.187 billion keeping the timeline intact.
Interestingly, it failed to deliver again after 10 years and a half and also after the extension of the total cost by 120.75 per cent.
Thus, the DoS sought yet another revision, for the fifth time, as the last ECNEC meeting hiked the cost by 151.56 per cent to Tk 9.326 billion from the actual estimation of Tk 3.71 billion. The deadline for completing the project was also enhanced by one more year, which will now take 11 years and a half to finish the job, according to officials.
A ministry official said the devaluation of taka against dollar, transportation cost hike from Korea to Bangladesh, consultancy cost escalation and the delay of the project are the main reasons for the overall cost hike.
He said the devaluation of taka alone boosted the cost by Tk 204.37 million.
Meanwhile, the cabinet committee on government purchase, headed by the then finance minister in May 2022, approved a Tk 103.4-million variation proposal to appoint ANSE Technologies as a consultant for the project.
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