Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan and the parliamentary watchdog on his ministry were at loggerheads yesterday over the procurement of container handling equipment to begin the operation of Chittagong port’s New Mooring container terminal that remained unused for seven years.
The port authority finished construction of the terminal in 2007 to handle more containers, costing Tk435 crore. But it remained idle for deadlock over the appointment of an operating firm for handling the container.
The 10-member parliamentary body, tasked to ensure transparency and accountability in the ministry’s activities, and the minister had debate over the procurement of the handling equipment.
Shajahan questioned how the private firms would operate unless the port authorities gave them the handling equipment. Watchdog Chairman Maj (retd) Rafiqul Islam Bir Uttam insisted that the private firm must sign the contract with their own equipment. The Shipping Ministry officials say the procurement involved around Tk1,200 crore.
“Nowhere in the world the government provides equipment for the private operators; they must come up with the equipment of their own,” Rafiqul told the meeting held at the parliament building.
Defending his stance, the chairman said: “If you hire a decorating company for an occasion, they come with their own crockeries and other necessary items. But if you give them plates, glasses, pots and other items, they will not use those carefully.
“So, giving the firm the equipment means that they will very often cause damage to the costly machines wilfully for their gains. And we must not give them such scope.”
Maj Rafiq acknowledged to the reporters that he had opposed the decision to buy the equipment for the private firm.
“We want to make the port operative as soon as possible. So, the equipment are must for the operators,” Shajahan Khan told the meeting, adding that private firms might not be interested in doing the handling works unless they got the equipment.
Maj Rafiq told reporters: “We have recommended formation of a joint committee comprising representatives of the ministry and the standing committee. This committee will do the cost-benefit analysis and recommend us necessary action.”
Shajahan Khan told the Dhaka Tribune: “I hope to convene a meeting of the joint committee within the next seven days. We will work according to the decision of the meeting.”
According to the Rules of Procedure of parliament, the recommendations of the standing committee is not mandatory for the ministries. But in parliamentary democracy, the suggestions of the standing committees are highly respected. But in Bangladesh, the watchdogs’ recommendations in most of the cases remain unimplemented. Again, in many cases, the watchdogs also intervene in the executive’s affairs violating the Rules of Procedure.
The watchdog committee also recommended that the Shipping Ministry identify the spots where most of the launch accidents had taken place over the last 40 years.
Maj Rafiq said if detected, the rescue vessels should be kept in nearby spots so that these could reach the spot as soon as possible. “In many cases, we see that the rescue vessels reach the accident sites late since these are anchored far away,” he said.