Malaysian firm gets MRP job

Purchase body okays bid; project to be delayed by 2 months
The cabinet committee on government purchase yesterday gave final approval to awarding the machine-readable passport and visa project to Malaysia-based IRIS Corporation Berhad with just two and a half months’ time to meet an international deadline for introduction of those.
“As there has been delay in the process of tender document evaluation and choosing a firm, introduction of MRP and MRV will be delayed by at least two months,” said an expert, who is also a member of the evaluation committee.
As per a provision of the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO), Bangladesh will have to introduce MRP and MRV from April 1 this year to ensure safe and risk-free travel of its citizens.
The existing hand-written passports will not be valid for travelling and renewal after that deadline. Hand-written passports can be issued after April 1 only on emergency basis, said the member.
Failing to meet the deadline may put the country’s manpower business at risk, he said.
Brig Gen Md Refayet Ullah, director of the Tk 526 crore project for MRP and MRV, said he would ensure that everything goes fast so that Bangladesh can start issuing MRP and MRV in the quickest possible time.
He said IRIS Corporation Berhad will produce passports for three years and Bangladesh will take over the charge of the project in the third year.
He said he had already urged the home ministry to send two experts teams–one to Poland and another to France–for finalising passport booklets and lamination foil to save time, Refayet said. His next most important task is to sign a contract with the Malaysian company, he added.
IRIS won the tender with a quotation of Tk 267 crore, beating Flora Telecom that quoted Tk 347 crore. Although there were a few loopholes in the tender documents of IRIS, the government chose the firm considering its proposed budget.
As per the conditions, IRIS will produce 2.2 million passports each year.
The evaluation committee member said MRP and MRV could have been introduced easily before the deadline had the government chosen a firm shortly after the evaluation report of the responsive companies was submitted on November 23.
“We repeatedly requested the government high-ups to finalise the firm without further delay. But it took about two months to make the decision,” he said, wishing not to be named.
A summary of the home ministry suggesting that the project be awarded to IRIS was sent to the cabinet committee on government purchase on December 27, but it took over two weeks to get approved.
Earlier, the seven-member evaluation committee changed its decision a couple of times in less than a month because of alleged lobbying and counter-lobbying by influential politicians and businessmen.
Sensing the urgency, soon after assuming office the present Awami League government moved to expedite the project. The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved Tk 283 crore for the project on March 19 last year.
The government also involved the Armed Forces Division to expedite finalisation of the project and introducing MRP and MRV before the deadline.
The AL government of 1996-2001 had first taken the initiative to introduce MRP following the ICAO’s instructions to all its 181 member countries.
However, the following BNP-Jamaat government scrapped the move after assuming office in 2001.
Since the project was initiated, influential politicians and businessmen have been in a race to get the financial benefit out of the multi-million-dollar project, virtually delaying introduction of MRP and MRV.

Courtesy of The Daily Star