VISUAL DEFENCE INC:Ghostly deal on Dhaka airport
It looks strange that in recent times all corruption scandals
involving the country's important economic installations are
originating with the Canadian firms, although the country is rated as
a corruption-free nation.
Next to the corruption scandal involving a Canadian firm with the
Padma Bridge project, the latest such scandalous disclosure came with
yet another Canadian firm called Visual Defense Inc (VDI) regarding
Hajrat Shahjalal International Airport's security arrangement.
The firm's proposal includes upgrading the security system at the
airport at a cost of US$ 40 million. Against that capital expenditure,
project proposals said the firm will be authorised to collect $35
against each outgoing passenger for the next 25 years.
This money should be collected from the air ticket booking agencies
which will add the security fees to the cost of the tickets. It
appears that the company would spend only Tk 300 crore and recover
around Tk 900 crore each year for the next quarter century.
The weird arithmetic defies common sense, but some Canadian firms are
showing their eerie involvement in the nation's highly sensitive
economic installations with obvious money laundering motives.
The question is who those people are behind such stealthy moves,
political observers here wondered.
Civil Aviation Minister G M Quader said he is not in favour of giving
the contract to questionable firms in questionable circumstances
without open tender bid. Moreover, he says he does not see reason or
urgency to go into such arrangement.
Minister threatened
The minister complained last week that he was threatened by unknown
people for his objection to agree to the deal with the Canadian firm.
But he said no such deal will be allowed to take place, no matter
whatever threats come on him.
The government has recently ordered an investigation into a move made
by the firm to upgrade the security of the airport following
disclosure that the documents submitted by the company were largely
inaccurate and false.
It appears that a vested interest group with reported support from a
section of officials of the civil aviation ministry and the Civil
Aviation Authority were promoting the case to hand over the security
arrangement of the airport to the Canadian firm.
The proposal remained abandoned for quite some time but suddenly it
started moving with a letter from the Prime Minister's office that
such deal may be processed on public-private partnership basis.
The proposal passed out of the cabinet purchase committee with due
approval clearing the way to signing the deal and take steps to hand
over security control to the firm when minister G M Quader sensed
there was something wrong.
He immediately sent a letter to Geneva-based International Association
of Travel Agents (IATA) to verify the claim of the Canadian firm that
it was the only 'strategic partner' of the agency authorised to give
security protection to international airports highly vulnerable to
terrorist threats.
Suspicion, too high fees
He took the move when he saw that the Canadian firm has used IATA logo
on the letterhead along with its own logo giving rise to suspicion.
The reply was quick and sharp. It denied of such partnership and
moreover advised the government not to engage such firms to upgrade
the airport's security.
IATA further said the proposal to collect US$ 35 per ticket was too
high. There is not a single airport in the world collecting such high
fees on security account. Moreover IATA will not allow such
arrangement to take effect without discussion with the booking agents.
The minister was further at a loss to see that VDI's first letter to
the government is now missing from the ministry's dossiers. It
suggested that a very powerful quarter is active behind it, he
indicated.
VDI vice president Eugene Gerstine said last week, ''We are officially
withdrawing our proposal to the People's Republic of Bangladesh, until
such time when you feel comfortable to proceed with the reported
cabinet committee decision to implement the up-gradation proposal."
He also threatened the minister for taking legal action for news
report on the issue in the local press.
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