The former chief health officer of the DCC, Mohammed Asraf Uddin, had told Star City in July that the process of privatising mosquito control would be complete by the first week of September.

The sources said the committee has already examined the technical proposals of the bidders and would start evaluating the financial aspects of the tender soon.

"We hope we will get ready by September-end for submitting the documents to the top officials for the final decision," said a member of the evaluation committee requesting anonymity.

"There is no possibility of awarding the contract of mosquito control to private operators until October," said the member.

Clarity Ecotech, a joint venture of Bangladesh and USA, Diligent Services Limited (a joint venture of Bangladesh and India) and Safeway Pest Control (a consortium of three Bangladeshi companies) have bidden for the tender.

The DCC invited the tender on April 15 this year, aimed at handing the mosquito control over to the private operators.

Clarity Ecotech submitted a proposal of Tk 7.5 crore for a one-year expenditure for mosquito control in the city. Clarke Mosquito Control of the USA will be working with Clarity Echotech in Dhaka if it is awarded the contract.

Sufi Iqbal, proprietor of Clarity Ecotech, said that private companies lack practical experience of controlling mosquito in Bangladesh, so it is tagging up with the American company.

Diligent estimated a budget of Tk 12.5 crore for mosquito eradication programme in its proposal for a year.

"Our company has a fair amount of experience of controlling mosquitoes in two municipalities of West Bengal in India -- Holdia and Howra. Besides, our Indian experts have been working in a number of wards of Kolkata," said BA Shamim, in-charge of Vector Control Programme of Diligent Services Limited.

"We have experience of controlling mosquitoes both outdoors and indoors," claimed BA Shamim.

Safeway Pest Control proposed Tk 13.73 budget in its tender documents.

The owner of Safeway Pest Control, Dr Monjur Ahmad Chowdhury, claimed that his company worked extensively in vector control across the country.

"We also have a group of entomologists and experts working for the company," Dr Chowdhury, also an entomologist, said.

Having failed to control mosquitoes in the city on a budget of more than Tk 12 crore, the DCC has decided to hand over the entire programme to private firms.