Fresh MRP project drafted in ADP

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The Department of Immigration and Passport (DIP) could start issuing machine-readable passports and visas from July next year as a Tk 560 crore fresh project for this purpose has been included in the Annual Development Programme of 2008-2009.

The project, awaiting approval, is required for Bangladesh to comply with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) deadline of April 2010 for completing the job.

“Once implemented, the Department of Immigration and Passport hopes to start issuing machine-readable passports (MRP) and machine-readable visas (MRV) from July next year,” said Abdur Rob Hawlader, director general (DG) of DIP.

This fresh move follows the abandonment of the BNP-led coalition government’s Tk 1,546-crore project for MRP, MRV and national identity cards due to irregularities in appointing a consultant and tender evaluation in late 2006.

As soon as the fresh project is approved in the budget, the DIP will float tenders to purchase necessary equipment and expedite the tender process. The department has already finished most of the groundwork for preparing tender documents, said DIP officials.

In the meantime, the DIP hopes to receive a Tk 1-crore fund next month to appoint a consulting firm for the project. The firm will be responsible for the management, monitoring, supervision, evaluation and implementation of the MRP and MRV project.

The DG of the DIP said his department has been working relentlessly to meet the ICAO deadline.

Four honorary consultants from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) have been assisting the DIP for the last six months for preparing the tender documents, said a DIP official adding that besides helping in the MRP-MRV project, the four IOM consultants will also monitor the work of the consulting firm to be appointed by the DIP soon.

If Bangladesh fails to comply with the ICAO requirement of issuing MRPs to its citizens by 2010, the country’s access to international manpower market as well as attaining all types of visas for its citizens would be jeopardised, said the DIP officials.

ICAO is a global forum for civil aviation and a specialised United Nations agency that codifies principles and techniques of international air navigation and fosters the planning and development of international air transport.

So far, 115 countries including India have already implemented the ICAO requirement of issuing MRPs to their citizens.

DIP sources said following the implementation of the MRP project, the DIP would convert previously issued normal passports into MRPs by the end of November 2015.

It will take around five years to implement the MRP-MRV project and necessary equipment will be installed at 67 passport offices–one each in 61 districts and two each in Dhaka, Chittagong and Comilla, sources in the DIP said.

A DIP official told The Daily Star, “Tender for the project will be floated after its approval in the budget. The Planning Commission has already included the project in its list of annual development programmes.”

The department anticipates that the finance ministry will soon approve Tk 1 crore for hiring the consulting firm, he said adding that the key qualification for the firm would be having at least a year’s experience in implementing MRP and MRV projects.

A draft advertisement seeking expression of interest from prospective firms has already been sent to authorities concerned, the official said.

A similar MRP-MRV-national ID card project was initiated by the home ministry during the previous BNP-led alliance government and the project was shelved as gross irregularities, especially in hiring a consulting firm, were detected.

The particular firm collected its fees for 12 months at Tk 3.9 lakh per month.

A home ministry official wishing not to be named said, “The project was mired in controversy as rules were compromised to favour a consulting firm that had no expertise in this field.”

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