Govt to buy dredgers for water board

China, India evince interest

The government is working to procure several dredgers for the Bangladesh Water Development Board (WDB) on a government-to-government (G2G) basis, a top government official told The Independent. Authorities in both China and India have already expressed interest in supplying the vessels to the BWDB under G2G basis. Besides, the BWDB will procure 25 dredgers under state arrangement. “We are short of the number of dredgers needed to fulfil the Prime Minister’s vision of dredging the country’s rivers. We need at least 200 of them to implement the PM’s vision,” Muhammad Nazrul Islam, state minister for water resources, told The Independent. The Chinese authorities have proposed to supply 25 dredgers on a G2G basis, he said, adding that a DPP had already been prepared for this.
“The proposal will be sent to the ERD soon. The ERD will sign an agreement after successful negotiations,” Nazrul Islam said in reply to a query. The dredgers will be procured with the help of soft loans, he added. “We will procure 15 18-inch and 10 20-inch dredgers with government funds. They will be procured through international tender,” the state minister said. He added the WDB had 25 dredgers at present. Of them, seven were new, supplied by the Karnaphuli shipbuilders. Four more new dredgers would be soon added to the WDB fleet, the state minister said, adding that the Ananda ship builders would supply them. “Half the WDB dredgers are out of order. So, we need more if rivers are to be dredged,” Nazrul Islam said.
Meanwhile, the Indian authorities have also proposed the sale of dredgers to the WDB under a line of credit (LoC). “We have received a proposal from India. We are discussing the matter. We are yet to confirm the number of dredgers that will be bought from India,” BWDB director general Jahangir Kabir told this correspondent. However, the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) is going to add 20 more to its fleet of 21 dredgers, at a cost of Tk. 2,153 crore.
The decision, however, has raised questions about future funding to operate such a big dredger fleet. The government has taken the procurement initiative without conducting any study, ministry sources said. It has been alleged that the dredging procurement project has been taken up to satisfy a certain dredger manufacturing group.

Govt to buy dredgers for water board

China, India evince interest

The government is working to procure several dredgers for the Bangladesh Water Development Board (WDB) on a government-to-government (G2G) basis, a top government official told The Independent. Authorities in both China and India have already expressed interest in supplying the vessels to the BWDB under G2G basis. Besides, the BWDB will procure 25 dredgers under state arrangement. We are short of the number of dredgers needed to fulfil the Prime Ministers vision of dredging the countrys rivers. We need at least 200 of them to implement the PMs vision, Muhammad Nazrul Islam, state minister for water resources, told The Independent. The Chinese authorities have proposed to supply 25 dredgers on a G2G basis, he said, adding that a DPP had already been prepared for this. The proposal will be sent to the ERD soon. The ERD will sign an agreement after successful negotiations, Nazrul Islam said in reply to a query. The dredgers will be procured with the help of soft loans, he added. We will procure 15 18-inch and 10 20-inch dredgers with government funds. They will be procured through international tender, the state minister said. He added the WDB had 25 dredgers at present. Of them, seven were new, supplied by the Karnaphuli shipbuilders. Four more new dredgers would be soon added to the WDB fleet, the state minister said, adding that the Ananda ship builders would supply them. Half the WDB dredgers are out of order. So, we need more if rivers are to be dredged, Nazrul Islam said. Meanwhile, the Indian authorities have also proposed the sale of dredgers to the WDB under a line of credit (LoC). We have received a proposal from India. We are discussing the matter. We are yet to confirm the number of dredgers that will be bought from India, BWDB director general Jahangir Kabir told this correspondent. However, the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) is going to add 20 more to its fleet of 21 dredgers, at a cost of Tk. 2,153 crore. The decision, however, has raised questions about future funding to operate such a big dredger fleet. The government has taken the procurement initiative without conducting any study, ministry sources said. It has been alleged that the dredging procurement project has been taken up to satisfy a certain dredger manufacturing group.