Bangladesh News

Criminals Friday night disconnected the link between the automation server and the Import General Manifest (IGM) and Export General Manifest (EGM) module in Chittagong Customs House halting the automation system introduced there less than 24 hours before.

They unplugged two cables linking the automation server to the module. Officials and businessmen concerned termed the incident an act of sabotage.

Sources said the plugs might have been pulled out after the server room of the Chittagong Customs House was closed at 10:00pm Friday.

Shipping agents, freight forwarders and stakeholders failed to submit IGM and EGM online to the IGM-EGM module yesterday morning. They informed customs authorities about the issue and the problem was fixed almost immediately after discovery.

Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) Director Amirul Haq, who was the chief coordinator of the automation implementing process, termed the incident an act of sabotage and a futile bid to disrupt the system.

Amirul Haq, also a director of the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), held a vested syndicate responsible.

“The syndicate that kept us hostage and deprived the government of revenue must have had a hand behind the sabotage as they know that they would lose their grip on taxation procedures due to the automation system,” he said.

Amirul demanded that the culprits be arrested and punished.

The customs authorities and the taskforce formed by the joint forces, which is helping in the automation system implementation process, started an investigation into the matter immediately and interrogated people involved with the operation of the IGM-EGM module in the server room.

The authorities held a meeting in presence of taskforce members and others concerned in the afternoon to find ways and means to stop repetition of the incident, sources said.

The meeting decided on a number of precautionary measures and formed a committee comprised of people from Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), CCCI and customs house for round-the-clock monitoring of the system’s operation, sources said.

The CCCI was installing the full automation system in the customs house with funds provided by stakeholders.

A vested quarter is against the full automation system since customs authorities at the initiative of joint forces formed a taskforce and started the process of implementing the system. Under the new system, every stage of taxation comes up on a monitor screen and checking irregularities in customs procedures is made easy.

Sources said around Tk 240 crore have been spent in the name of modernisation and automation of customs since 1994 but the money failed to produce any significant change in revenue administration. Revenue Administration Modernisation Project (RAMP) worth Tk 360 crore was also in the final stage when initiative for the full automation system was taken up in June last year, they said.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) was about to spend Tk 3.96 crore in ADB loan for a single module (IGM module) when efforts were being made to implement full automation at no cost to the government. The system provides 16 services through eight modules, taskforce sources said.

Besides, an ADB loan of Tk 2.97 crore was being spent every year on consultancy fees for the old and partially automated ASYCODA ++ system. The new system would be run, maintained and serviced by system analysts of CCCI for the next five years saving the money spent in consultancy fees.

All these might be the reasons behind a syndicate’s opposition to the automation system, they speculated.

Matiur Rahman, member secretary of the five-member committee supervising the implementation of the automation system at Chittagong Customs House, said, “It is the first ever IT project with public and private sector partnership. It presents an environment in which the stakeholders have played a part in setting up the system and the system treats them with respect too making it a successful venture.”