Scrutiny of int'l tenders by two months

A parliamentary body yesterday said evaluation of international tenders to set up five plants, including manufacturing of land phone sets, mobile phone batteries and assembling mobile phone sets will be completed within the next two months.
The two other plants are mobile phone charger and electric meter manufacturing plants.
The parliamentary standing committee on post and telecommunication ministry also said international tenders will be floated in next one month to manufacture mobile SIM cards, laptops, assemble of solar power plants, lighting system and waste material collection for biogas.
It made a recommendation to unify Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited, Bangladesh Telecommunication Company Limited (BTCL) and TeleTalk under one umbrella.
“International tenders have already been floated to manufacture PSTN (public switched telephone network) land phone sets, electric meters, mobile phone batteries, mobile phone chargers as well as to assemble of mobile phone sets,” Hasanul Haq Inu, chairman of the standing committee, told reporters after a meeting at the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.
“Scrutiny of the tenders would be finalised within the next two months,” Inu, also a Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) lawmaker, added.
On unifying Submarine Cable Company, TeleTalk and BTCL, the committee chairman said they have recommended unification of the three organisations under one umbrella as per the suggestion of a designated committee which was formed by the respective ministry to evaluate the whole matter.
The parliamentary watchdog body asked the ministry concerned to ensure any of the employees of now defunct the Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) do not loose their jobs and do not experience discrepancy in terms of their salaries.
Inu, president of JSD, also said that a new law is likely to be enacted to smoothly and efficiently run the three organisations under one umbrella.
He further said that worth Tk 700 new land phone operation by Telephone Shilpa Sangstha (TSS) has already hit country's market, adding that the land phone sets have the facility of caller IDs.
Inu said he along with other members of the standing committee would visit TSS on November 22 to take a first-hand experience about the state-run organisation.