A much-hyped laptop project unveiled by the prime minister in 2011, that turned out to be a lemon, is now at risk of being sued by its foreign partner over unpaid dues.
DOEL laptop plant’s foreign partner, TFT Display Sdn Bhd (TFT), will file a case against the government and several of the project’s then senior officials for unpaid bills, TFT Chief Executive Officer Michael Wong said.
“All those who cheated the Bangladesh government will face corruption charges. They cannot save themselves,” Wong told the Dhaka Tribune over Whats App.
“I am suing TSS. All the corruption will come to the surface,” he said.
The DOEL laptop project is a concern of state-owned Telephone Shilpa Sanghta Ltd (TSS). TSS has a 25% stake in the DOEL laptop venture while TFT owns 75% together with local partner 2M.
TFT’s total receivable amount is around $225,000, according to a report prepared by TSS for the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
But DOEL’s troubles are more complex than just trying to recover unpaid dues.
TSS and TFT are trading allegations of corruption with one side claiming to be over charged and the other claiming that public servants had required the over invoicing of the merchandise.
Sources said Wong and TFT were searching for a local lawyer to file the case and had already contacted two senior lawyers in Dhaka.
Wong hinted that a case may be filed against then telecommunications minister, Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju, together with some of his closest bureaucratic aides who were linked to the project.
Assembly of the made-in-Bangladesh device has ground to a halt and sales have plummeted to zero, sources said.
According to the report submitted to the PMO, TSS opened a Letter of Credit at Mercantile Bank in April 2011 for $1,005,540 of which $781,540 was meant for importing machinery from Malaysia.
Eighty per cent of the amount – $625,232 – was paid out to TFT.
Some $156,308 was not released to TFT, according to the report, due to TSS’ allegation of corruption by TFT.
The TSS report claimed that $381,308 worth of machinery and equipment had not been received.
The TSS report said that TFT had overcharged TSS or delivered goods less than the amount charged.
Wong did not deny the charge.
He told the Dhaka Tribune that he had been asked to over invoice the delivery by the then TSS officials, which he did.
Wong also said he was asked to pay an undisclosed sum of money into two international bank accounts, based on verbal agreements with then TSS officials.
The TSS recently placed a report on the status of the venture before Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Cabinet decided to set up a plant to assemble laptops in Bangladesh on November 8, 2011.
The Awami League government put the TSS back to work after the 2007-08 caretaker government had revived the nearly defunct organisation.
The AL government considered assembling mobile telephones but those plans failed to pan out.
The DOEL project drew national attention when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina unveiled the laptops on October 11, 2011.
“Running a laptop assembly project requires more than Tk100cr, but our total revenue in the last four years from laptop sales was a mere Tk115cr,” Md Husnul Mahmud Khan, acting managing director of TSS told the Dhaka Tribune.
Husnul, also a joint secretary of the Ministry of Post, Telecommunications and Information Technology, said: “TSS needs a full-fledged managing director. Acting managers can not run it smoothly.”
Husnul refused to comment on reports of TFT’s legal challenges.
Sources said TSS imported 42,525 laptops casings and assembled 41,389 laptop units of different models. Thirty-six thousand units were sold, sources said.
“We have already stopped assembling the primary model priced at Tk10,000 because there was little demand for it. We sold it at Tk5,000-6,000,” Husnul said.
Public sector agencies made up DOEL’s primary client list. The Education Ministry bought 20,500 units, the Bangladesh Army bought 3,500, the Post Office bought 700 and the Air Force bought 100 units, Husnul said.
He said: “Currently our first priority is to sell out the remaining laptops in our stock. Importing spare parts and assembling new laptops are our second priority.”
The DOEL project employs about 100 people. All of the foreign experts have left the project.