The science and information and communication technology ministry says it will have to depend on the arrival of Japanese machinery for the Novo Theatre to run.

A project official said the letter of credit was opened and it will take at least 15 more days for the equipment to arrive from Japan and many more days for the Novo Theatre to run.

The launch of the Novo Theatre has become uncertain because of technical problems with machinery, officials working on the project said.

The secretary of the ministry, Dr Omar Faruque, and Project Director Dr Khadija Begum declined to give details on the issue.

Although official news agency BSS reported on the inauguration of Novo Theatre by June, the ministry could not confirm it.

"BSS did not talk to us about the inauguration. We are trying to launch it as early as possible," Dr Omar Faruque said.

Dr Khadija said: "We cannot say anything about it until July."

On the fund of an additional Tk 3 crore for machinery, the secretary said the government is ready to bear the additional cost.

The initial plan was to have a three-month trial run of the machinery before inauguration of the theatre, but the Japanese experts will have hardly any time for trial if it starts by July.

In a meeting with the Public Works Department (PWD) on May 20, the ministry said some minor changes should be carried out before the handover of the Novo Theatre from the PWD to the ministry.

The delay in the project and fund allocation also hampered the work of Novo Theatre. A PWD official said the ministry is yet to pay Tk 3 crore for the construction, carried on five acres near Bijoy Sarani in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.

"The ministry is shifting the blame onto the PWD for the delay, but the real problem is machinery," a PWD engineer said.

"This is a prestigious project for the government and the ministry as well and it will generate a huge income," the secretary said.

India has about 25 such theatres and Pakistan 8. GOTO India that is also maintaining the Science City of Kolkata will be in charge of maintaining the Novo Theatre for a year after the Japanese experts leave this year.

The project proposal of the Novo Theatre was laid out in 1995 and the Awami League government changed the name of the project to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Novo Theatre and asked for tender in 1996. The construction of the main building began on July 17, 2000.

After the BNP came back to power in 2001, the project was renamed Dhaka Modern Novo Theatre and the construction restarted in July 2002.

The Novo Theatre, designed to create interest in people, especially children, about astronomy and space science, has a 350-seat planetarium where people will be able to view moving images of the planets and stars and has an auditorium of 170 seats.

A three-storey building has been constructed for administrative work and there will also be exhibitions to enhance knowledge of space and other disciplines of science.

To maintain the equilibrium with nature, three water retention bodies, fountains, a flower garden, garden lights and soothing landscape were also built in the theatre area. The total cost of the project was estimated at Tk 120.321 crore, approved by the Executive Committee of National Economic Council.