Container scanners at Ctg port to be installed in January
Sunday, 28 December 2008
FE Report
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has said it will commission container inspection devices at the Chittagong Port in the first week of January next to give the country's external trade a boost.
The US and the European nations want container scanners at all ports of those countries that have trade relations with them. They asked all countries concerned to install container scanners at their harbours after 9/11 incident as a safety measure.
Besides, the container scanners will prevent practice of wrong declaration about imported goods.
"We have received one equipment last week and its installation procedures are going on fast. It is a mobile scanner in nature. We expect to commission it within the first week of January," said Moazzem Hossain, project director of NBR.
The four container scanners have been procured at a cost of Tk 430 million. SGS Bangladesh, a pre-shipment inspection company, is supplying the devices and it will also operate and maintain them for a period of six years after commissioning.
The Bangladesh government, which is financing the project, will spend a total of Tk 1.02 billion for a period of six years.
The project director also said the three remaining scanners will be arriving soon, and it will be set up at three strategic locations of Chittagong Port by mid-February next.
One scanner will be installed at jetty no 04, another at Chittagong Container Terminal (CCT) no 01 and the remaining ones at CCT 4.
SGS Bangladesh has procured the equipment from Nuctech, a Chinese-government owned entity, which claims that a total of 82 countries of the world have procured the equipment from it.
The project faced a major setback in May this year when the main lending agency, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), refused to accept re-bidding by the Chittagong Customs House (CCH).
Earlier, the Manila-based lending agency pledged to provide funds worth US$ 11 million for the supply, installation, operation and maintenance of container inspection equipment at Chittagong port.
In December, 2007 the executing agency, the CCH, invited an international tender for supply, installation, commissioning and maintenance of scanners for the premier port.
A total of four companies participated in the tender and the lowest bidder turned out to be a company earlier 'blacklisted' by the NBR. This resulted in the scrapping of the entire bidding process. As a result, ADB declined to finance the project.
The ADB, in its response, told the CCH not to proceed with the process of re-tendering before ensuring that due process had been followed in accordance to the loan agreement signed between them.
However, European Union member nations made the installation of the scanning devices mandatory at all ports by 2009 while the USA deadline is 2010.
The NBR conceived the project of scanner installation at Chittagong port in 2006.
The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has said it will commission container inspection devices at the Chittagong Port in the first week of January next to give the country's external trade a boost.
The US and the European nations want container scanners at all ports of those countries that have trade relations with them. They asked all countries concerned to install container scanners at their harbours after 9/11 incident as a safety measure.
Besides, the container scanners will prevent practice of wrong declaration about imported goods.
"We have received one equipment last week and its installation procedures are going on fast. It is a mobile scanner in nature. We expect to commission it within the first week of January," said Moazzem Hossain, project director of NBR.
The four container scanners have been procured at a cost of Tk 430 million. SGS Bangladesh, a pre-shipment inspection company, is supplying the devices and it will also operate and maintain them for a period of six years after commissioning.
The Bangladesh government, which is financing the project, will spend a total of Tk 1.02 billion for a period of six years.
The project director also said the three remaining scanners will be arriving soon, and it will be set up at three strategic locations of Chittagong Port by mid-February next.
One scanner will be installed at jetty no 04, another at Chittagong Container Terminal (CCT) no 01 and the remaining ones at CCT 4.
SGS Bangladesh has procured the equipment from Nuctech, a Chinese-government owned entity, which claims that a total of 82 countries of the world have procured the equipment from it.
The project faced a major setback in May this year when the main lending agency, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), refused to accept re-bidding by the Chittagong Customs House (CCH).
Earlier, the Manila-based lending agency pledged to provide funds worth US$ 11 million for the supply, installation, operation and maintenance of container inspection equipment at Chittagong port.
In December, 2007 the executing agency, the CCH, invited an international tender for supply, installation, commissioning and maintenance of scanners for the premier port.
A total of four companies participated in the tender and the lowest bidder turned out to be a company earlier 'blacklisted' by the NBR. This resulted in the scrapping of the entire bidding process. As a result, ADB declined to finance the project.
The ADB, in its response, told the CCH not to proceed with the process of re-tendering before ensuring that due process had been followed in accordance to the loan agreement signed between them.
However, European Union member nations made the installation of the scanning devices mandatory at all ports by 2009 while the USA deadline is 2010.
The NBR conceived the project of scanner installation at Chittagong port in 2006.