Police unable to clear duties due to fund crunch

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) brought 10 armoured vehicles to enhance its counter-terrorism capacity, but it failed to release the cars from the Chittagong Port due to scarcity of project fund.

The customs authorities under the National Board of Revenue (NBR) have fixed Tk 163 crore customs duties and VAT for the vehicles.

In a letter sent to the NBR chairman, the Public Security Division under the Ministry of Home Affairs asked the revenue board to take necessary steps for releasing the vehicles through differed payment method as the DMP is yet to get the necessary fund.

The metropolitan police will purchase a total of 35 cars including 10 armoured vehicles, 20 escort vehicles and five floodlight vehicles under a project, titled “Increasing DMP capacity for tackling terrorism and ensuring public safety”.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the project in 2019 with a Tk 79.66 crore estimated project cost.

Of the amount, Japan government provided Tk 39.58 crore and GoB Tk 40.08 crore. Tk 39 crore was set for customs duty (CD) and VAT in the original Development Project Proposal (DPP), the letter reads.

It added that the ECNEC approved the first revised DPP in March this year after the RDPP was sent to the Planning Commission seeking approval for additional allocation for CD and VAT.

In the approved RDPP, the total expenditure of the project increased to Tk 309.48 crore, including Tk 269.90 crore for CD and VAT.

“Originally, the amendment proposal of the project was not approved by ECNEC before the revised ADP for the financial year 2022-2023 was approved. As a result, it was not possible to allocate the necessary funds in the revised budget,” the letter said.

“The required increased fund for the project is now being managed by allocating from another project which is under processing at present.”

“Once the DMP gets the allocation at hand, the necessary payment for CD and VAT will be cleared within the incumbent financial year,” it added.

Taking into consideration the matter of public safety, the security division urged the NBR to take necessary steps for releasing the vehicles which will be used to enhance DMP’s counter-terrorism capacity.

“After the brutal terrorist attack on the Holey Artisan cafe in Dhaka in 2016 that killed a total of 29 people, including nine Italians, seven Japanese, one Indian, three locals, two police officers, five attackers, and two bakery staff, the government of Japan provided financial assistance to Bangladesh to strengthen the capacity of DMP in anti-terror operations,” it said.

Japan International Cooperation Agency (JAICA) has donated 50 crore yen for strengthening capacity of the police in addition to donating several boats for the coastguard.