The High Court on Wednesday asked the government to explain in four weeks why it is allowing the Chattogram Port Authority to move ahead with awarding the operation of the New Mooring Container Terminal to a foreign company without competitive bidding.
The court questioned why local container handling operators were excluded from the process, despite provisions under the Bangladesh Public-Private Partnership Act 2015 and the 2017 policy for implementing government-to-government projects.
The bench of Justice Md Habibul Gani and Justice Sk Tahsin Ali issued the rule after hearing a petition filed by the Bangladesh Jubo Arthanitibid Forum on March 20.
Lawyers Zainul Abedin, Mahbub Uddin Khokon, Kayser Kamal, and Ahsanul Karim argued that awarding the contract to DP World 鈥� a 100% foreign-owned company 鈥� without an open tender undermines transparency and poses a threat to national interest.
They told the court that the previous government signed an MoU with DP World in 2019, and that the current interim administration is now trying to implement it without following due process.
The lawyers requested the court to declare the move illegal and ensure that any such contract goes through fair, competitive bidding in line with PPP laws and G2G policy.
In response, deputy attorney general Md Mohaddesh-Ul-Islam Tutul and Chattogram Port Authority lawyer Mohammed Helal Uddin argued that no final decision has been made yet.
They said the that Bangladesh Navy is currently operating the terminal and called the petition 鈥榩remature.鈥�
