Desk Report: Unscrupulous officials of Bangladesh Stationery Office have initiated a move to procure a large quantity of spurious foreign papers for printing materials for the upcoming national election, reports Daily Sun.
A syndicate of stationary officials and paper importers are involved in the conspiracy to put the local paper industry into jeopardy.
The unscrupulous officials are trying to award work order to the fourth lowest bidder for the paper procurement.
On September 10, an aggrieved local paper company sent a written complaint to the Public Administration Secretary alleging serious irregularities in the procurement of white offset paper.
Copies of the complaint were also sent to the chairman of Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) and director general of the Department of Printing and Publications.
As per the complaint, Bangladesh Stationery Office invited tender for procurement of high-quality white offset paper. The complainant and five other organisations took part in bidding. It offered Tk 2,231 for per ream of the paper. The total value of the paper stood at around Tk 11.8 crore as per the price offered by the lowest bidder.
On the other hand, the fourth bidder offered Tk 3,663 for per ream paper, totalling the quoted amount to Tk 19.49 crore.
Awarding the work order to the fourth lowest bidder will cost the national exchequer additional Tk 6.6 crore for the procurement.
In its complaint, the lowest bidder said it produces high-quality paper and exports paper to 30 countries. The bidder said it has earned a good reputation both at home and abroad as a paper manufacturer.
It also urged the government authorities to procure the paper after evaluating technical speciation of the bidders such as GSM, bursting factor, brightness, smoothness, caliper and opacity of the paper.
The letter also mentioned that there is a provision for legal action for importing and marketing foreign paper without the approval of Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution (BSTI). Thus, buying of substandard foreign paper will be a violation of the law.
Contacted, Bangladesh Stationery Office Deputy Director Sarwar Hossain said, “I have nothing to do with the violation of the law. Actually, we provide what different government agencies want. We procure paper as per their demand and they take the final decision in this regard.”
Sources said an organised syndicate is active for long to earn hefty amounts of commission for foreign paper imports different government offices. With the help of Bangladesh Stationery Office, they have included certain types of conditions in the tender documents to bar the local companies from the participating in the tending process. They even refer to foreign brands in the tender document, flouting the government’s purchase policy.
The local paper mills have expressed grave concern over such kind of conditions in the tender process. Bangladesh Paper Mills Association (BPMA) insiders said commission business is the main reason behind incorporating new conditions. A section of importers has put these illogical conditions for importing in violation of the government policy.
In an investigation, it was found a tender floated by Bangladesh Stationery Office on July 22 to collect 53,227 reams of paper mentioned standard white offset paper but used ‘foreign’ in the bracket. It also mentioned the name of a foreign paper namely ‘paper one’.
BPMA leaders said explicitly mentioning any brand or country name in the tender is against the government purchase policy. BPMA Secretary AKM Nowsherul Alam said at a time when the Prime Minister is providing a set of incentives for prioritising local products, floating tender with conditions for buying foreign papers is contradictory with the government’s policy.
“According to the government’s procurement policy, there is no scope of encouraging foreign products. It is not clear how a government organisation seeks bids by mentioning that it wants to procure foreign paper,” he said.
Earlier, Bangladesh Stationery Office deputy director Sarwar Hossain said that they float tender based on the demand of Department of Printing and Publications (DPP).
“Making foreign product as pre-condition for the purchase is against the interest of the country.” the BPMA Secretary said.
“If the local companies can provide quality products in more competitive prices than the foreign companies, they why you would buy foreign products?” questioned the paper industry insiders.
They also said an importer-syndicate is responsible for putting such kind of condition.
The country’s paper industry is a vital and self-contained sector. Around 106 small and big companies are producing world-class and quality paper in the country.
Locally made papers are being used in the Prime Minister Office, all education boards and many government and international organisations. Bangladeshi paper manufacturers are also exporting paper to more than 30 countries including Australia, UK and Europe.
During 2017-18 fiscal, Bangladesh fetched around $20 million by exporting paper and paper-made products.
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