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The JLEPCL-DCL, a China-Bangladesh joint venture company, has again sought extension of the deadline for the construction of central effluent treatment plant (CETP) at Savar Tannery Estate up to June 2018.
This is the seventh time the firm appealed for extension of the deadline, but there will be no rise in the project cost, an official of Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) told the FE.
The present deadline is due to expire this month.
The JLEPCL-DCL was awarded the job in October 2012 to complete the construction of CETP in 18 months at a cost of Tk 4.8 billion.
Present consultant for the Savar Tannery Estate (STE) Abdul Qaiyum, also a former project director, said this would be the last extension of the deadline. No further time extension would be allowed.
The application for extension of the deadline, now with the industries ministry, has not yet been approved. They will take a final decision within a few days.
Abdul Qaiyum said the contracting company made all the four modules of CETP operational, but there are so many things to do.
But Bangladesh Tanners Association Secretary Shakhawat Ullah said it is not true that all four modules of the CETP have been made operational.
"Many jobs remain half done. The project needs extension of tome," he said.
Some 103 factories have already been relocated to Savar, but the CETP with its present condition would not be able to manage the wastes when all the factories will start running there, he added.
He also said the establishment of a solid waste management system, Sludge Power Generation System (SPGS), fire service and development of adjacent roads and many other things are yet to be done.
"The authorities must complete everything as per the agreement signed between the tanners and the estate project," he added.
The solid waste is being dumped inside the project area for the time being, but it cannot go on for long for such a large project, said Shakhawat Ullah.
The estate authority was supposed to sign an agreement with Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) for dumping solid waste of tanneries at Amin Bazar landfill for the time being, as it would take two more years to set up the sludge-fired power plant, he said.
But the agreement could not be signed due to the expiry of the project tenure, he added.
Meanwhile, the government has extended the lifespan of STE project up to June 2019.
The STE project got an extension for two years after its tenure expired on June 30 in 2017.
On November 07, the government approved the extension of the tenure of the project titled 'Tannery Estate, Dhaka' to facilitate shifting of the industries from Hazaribagh in the capital to Savar.
The project was first approved by the ECNEC on August 18, 2003 and it was revised on August 13, 2013 with an estimated cost of Tk 10.78 billion. The project was scheduled to be implemented by June 2017.
STE consultant Abdul Qaiyum said the project tenure was extended as they need time to construct a sludge-fired power plant in order to manage solid wastes.