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Govt yet again extends tannery estate project

Star Business Report
The long-awaited Savar Tannery Industrial Estate (STIE) project that began in 2003 is now expected to be fully complete next year after the government yesterday extended its deadline once again.
The Executive Committee on National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved the extension of the project in its fourth revision, where the expenditure was cut by Tk 63.15 crore toTk 1,015.56 crore.
The tenure was extended mainly to complete the central effluent treatment plant (CETP), install some gates and construct three dumping yards.
Until June this year, some Tk 792.10 crore, or 73.43 percent, of the total allocation has been
spent.
In the original plan, the STIE project was supposed to be complete in 2005 at a cost of Tk 175 crore.
In its second revision in August 2013, the project's tenure was extended to June 2016 and the cost hiked toTk 1,078 crore.
However, the tenure was extended for the third time in January 2017 to June 2019, keeping the project cost unchanged.
Now a fourth extension had to be made.
Jitendra Nath Paul, project director of the STIE, said the implementation of the project was delayed for legal complexities.
Although work for the project was supposed to start in 2003, it actually began from 2012. Moreover, the implementation was delayed when the construction of the CETP was delayed
again because of legal battle, he said.
However, the STIE has been working to complete the construction of the CETP and automation mainly to comply with the conditions of the Leather Working Group (LWG) certification, a vital compliance to gain fair prices from the export of leather and leather goods from Bangladesh.
A high-powered audit body is scheduled to visit the STIE soon for inspecting the estate, based on which LWG certification can be obtained.
Currently, 125 out of the 155 tanneries have shifted to STIE from Hazaribagh and started operations.
The government facilitated the relocation from Hazaribagh as the surrounding areas were getting seriously damaged.
At yesterda/s meeting the Ecnec approved a total of nine projects - including the extension of the SITE - involving Tk 4,611 crore, Planning Minister MA Mannan told this to the journalists after the meeting at his office.
At the meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the committee also approved a project amounting Tk 267.35 crore to train more than 1 lakh youth in motor vehicle driving across the country.
Mannan said youths in all 64 districts will receive training with the view to becoming gainfully employed.
The interested youth will mainly receive training on driving and training on auto mechanics. The government will also recruit 128 practical trainers, 64 theoretical persons and 64 skilled persons to train the youth.
The minister also said the Ecnec approved another project involving Tk 392 crore to construct a domestic bulk cargo terminal at Khanpur in Narayanganj.
Another project on modern waste management and clean-up of oil spilled from the Mongla port was approved at a cost ofTk 401 crore, Mannan said.
The government took this project to clean the water and save the ecosystem in the Sundarbans area as spilt oil from the ships are polluting river water at Mongla channel.