Submarine Cable Project
Highest bidder picked violating rule
Abu Saeed Khan
The submarine cable project sinks into further uncertainty as the telecoms ministry has controversially selected the highest bidder, instead of the lowest one, to install the Cox's Bazar-Chittagong optical fibre link.Sources said the ministry has been forced to pick the highest bidder -- Siemens of Germany-- that offered Tk 47.40 crore to do the job. The ministry was preparing to award the contract to the lowest bidder-- Canadian Nortel -- which offered Tk 30.80 crore, according to official documents. Moreover, the ministry was addressing an allegation of corruption by a section of Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) that had initially selected Nortel's bid as the best one but later dubiously inserted and upheld French company Alcatel's proposal of Tk 36.80 crore. The ministry however shifted its position under pressure from the higher authorities, sources said. A newly appointed senior official posted in the country's top office is pulling strings to get the deal approved in favour of Siemens in today's cabinet purchase committee meeting, highly placed sources said. The BTTB had initially selected Nortel but when it sought the ministry's approval for Alcatel, it last month detected that Alcatel's offer is 20 percent higher than Nortel's, and the French vendor's proposal is also technically disqualified due to gross discrepancies in its bid. On November 4, the ministry sought BTTB's explanation on selecting Alcatel but received no response. On November 21, the ministry accused the BTTB of "unnecessary time-killing" and again demanded explanation within three working days. The BTTB remained defiant and also ignored the second deadline. On November 25, an inter-ministerial meeting was called at the telecoms ministry to select Nortel's lowest bid. On that very morning, the senior bureaucrat concerned personally called the inter-ministerial committee members and asked them to approve the bid by Siemens, which is the costliest. Accordingly the ministry approved Siemens' bid. "We have been preventing the overpayment of six crore taka to Alcatel but now we have approved thrice that amount in excess payment to Siemens," said a member of inter-ministerial committee, requesting anonymity. "Awarding this deal to the highest bidder (Siemens) violates the public procurement regulation," commented a BTTB official seeking not to be named. The country is scheduled to be connected to the global information superhighway from September next year.
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