The Chittagong Customs House (CCH) has given the job of scanning import cargo to a foreign company (SGS) at a cost of Tk 29 crore. While the CCH is claiming it could do the job itself for a mere Tk 4 crore a year, the fact remains that it failed to set up a permanent scanning department since 2012. We find it perplexing as to why the CCH personnel, who got trained as part of the original contract signed with SGS, got transferred by the time the initial contract ended in 2015. It appears that we are more at ease at giving out contracts to outside parties rather than handling the job ourselves by building up human resources.

It is also perplexing to note that the proposal by CCH on January 2 to establish a permanent scanning department with a 185-strong workforce that would entail establishing 12 scanners (as opposed to the current 4 in operation), was not looked into. But why would the CCH only put in such a proposal when the SGS contract was coming to a close? The fact that the SGS was given contracts in two phases over so many years and that the authorities failed to build up a local department capable of handling increasing cargo shipments highlight the indifference to our national security and management inefficiencies.

The relevant authorities should prioritise the issue of handling import cargo by a local authority and steps need to be taken to make necessary budgetary allocations to build up a dedicated department to that end.