B’desh annuls $24.42 mn defence deal

Dhaka: Charges of corruption and irregularities in the procurement process have led Bangladesh to cancel the purchase of six high-speed naval patrol boats.

Bangladesh Navy Chief Hasan Ali Khan informed Parliament's Standing Committee on Defence that the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has cancelled the move to purchase six high-speed patrol boats, The Daily Star said, quoting sources present at the committee meeting.

It did not say from where these boats were being purchased.

It said the Armed Forces Division had earlier sought the Prime Minister's clearance to procure these boats at a cost of 145 million taka ($1=60 taka).

It had procured six similar boats in 2005 for only 90 million taka, triggering allegations of bid manipulation in the current procurement process.

The Parliamentary Committee, also examining a deal for the purchase of 16 fighter jets from China, has demanded that Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, who also holds the Defence portfolio, should be present for the sake of "greater transparency".

The Directorate of Defence Purchase (DDP) told the Committee that it was not involved in the purchase process. The Government "sealed the deal bilaterally with China".

"Our role was confined to receiving a budgetary offer and finalising four among six proposals for the purchase," Director General of Defence Purchase (DGDP), Brigadier General Anwarul Azim, said at a meeting of the Standing Committee on Defence.

"The Government has completed the procurement and so the responsibility in this regard lies with the Government," he observed.

Awami League lawmakers and members of the Committee rejected the DGDP statement and said the Government should come clean on the matter. They also expressed resentment at the Prime Minister's prolonged absence at the Committee meetings.

Committee Chairman Mahbubur Rahman told reporters that the Government could procure the fighters bilaterally "but the process should be transparent".

Dismissing the Opposition's call for a probe into the purchase, he said the matter could not be discussed without specific allegations.

Earlier, lawmakers of the main Opposition Awami League alleged that there had been a lot of anomalies in the purchase of F-7 fighters. The Government had on June 26, 2005, signed an agreement with China to purchase 16 F-7/FT-7 BG fighters.

The Air force Headquarters in a report to the Standing Committee on defence on April 16 said the fighters were worth $117.9 million.