Bangladesh News

The government has moved to expedite the introduction of machine-readable passports (MRP) as an international deadline for its implementation ends April next year.

In a bid to implement a Tk 350 crore project for MRP and machine-readable visas (MRV) within this year, the government already finalised almost all necessary procedures to appoint a consultant firm.

An international tender will also be floated soon to start the implementation of the project, said officials at the home ministry.

The home ministry needs Tk 7 crore to appoint the consultant firm HJP Consulting. Based in Paderborn, Germany, HJP is an international firm of consultants specialised in planning and testing of smartcard solutions with a particular emphasis on e-passport and the health sector.

The home ministry yesterday held a meeting with the Department of Immigration and Passport and other officials concerned at the ministry to review all aspects of the project.

In a quick move after the meeting, the home ministry sent the budget proposal to the finance and planning ministry seeking immediate allocation of funds to restart the much-waited machine readable passport and visa project. New passports would be made under this project for the next five years.

“Hopefully, we can finish the project by the end of this year,” said State Minister for Home Affairs Tanzim Ahmed Sohel Taj. He said they are working with the ministry of finance and planning and the planning commission to implement the MRP project quickly.

The state minister asked all concerned to maintain transparency in every step of the project.

“We need Tk 350 crore for software and hardware for the project and Tk 9 crore to engage the consultant firm but we have Tk 2 crore in hand,” Abdur Rob Hawlader, director general (DG) of the Department of Immigration and Passport, told The Daily Star yesterday.

He said an international tender will be floated within a month to start the project if they get funding.

“The tender is almost ready and we can go for inviting bids after a minor review…so as soon as we get the money we will start the project,” said the DG adding that Tk 200 crore from revenue will also be gradually spent on the project.

Earlier the government made preliminary selection of two German firms out of several foreign firms as no local ones could fulfil the criteria for the project or compete for the consultancy job.

The consultant firm’s responsibilities include monitoring, evaluation and supervision of the project and training for passport officials and employees. The firm will develop a plan for introduction of the machine-readable passports and visas.

Bangladesh requires the introduction of the MRP project to bring an end to the frequent harassments its citizens face during international travel. The MRP will also help curb the problem of forged passports, often used in human trafficking.

If Bangladesh fails to comply with the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) requirements by April 2010, Bangladesh citizens’ access to international manpower markets as well as obtaining all types of visas would be at risk, immigration officials said.

Some 115 out of 187 member nations of the ICAO, including India and Pakistan, have so far issued machine-readable passports to their citizens.

Bangladesh is a member of the ICAO, 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.

The Awami League government was the first to take an initiative for introducing MRP in 1998.

Assuming office, the BNP-Jamaat government took a fresh move but its Tk 1,546 crore mega project for MRP, MRV and national identity cards was scrapped in 2006 following controversies surrounding appointment of consultant and tender document manipulation.

Leaders in Hawa Bhaban allegedly made a frantic bid to grab the project with help of former state minister for home Lutfozzaman Babar and a consultant who tailored the tender documents of the project to serve their purpose.

During the caretaker government regime, during 2007-2008, the home ministry revived the project and took technical help of International Organisation on Migration (IOM), a body of the United Nations that deals with immigration issues.

The IOM helps different countries in introducing machine-readable passports and visas and has been working in Bangladesh since 2004. Sources said the caretaker government eventually decided to leave the project for the next elected government.