Official sources admitted that the authorities have missed several deadlines for vacating the mill area, putting the Adamjee EPZ establishment process on ice, deferring the June 2005 initial deadline to November.

But to date, with only three months in hand, the authorities are yet to hand over the rusting heavy-duty machinery to the parties, who had bought those from Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC) months ago, so that they can remove those and clear the site.

Adamjee Jute Mills in Narayanganj, founded in 1957, was closed down in June 2002, after the nationalised industry had incurred a huge Tk 13 billion loss accumulated since the independence.

The AEPZ to be set up on the mills' 295 acre land will comprise 200 industrial plots. It eyes a $500 million export a year and is expected to create some 100,000 jobs, officials said. Investments to the tune of $250 million for 70 industrial units have already been proposed.

Despite such bright prospects of foreign direct investment and employment generation, months of triangular wrangling among Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (Bepza), the BJMC and the 18 buyers is dragging out the process of readying the site.

Upon the buyers' repeated pleas for early delivery of the machinery and spare parts worth over Tk 40 crore and fearing legal backlash from them, BJMC Chairman AFM Solaiman Chowdhury on July 17 sought immediate intervention from the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) in the matter.

Ten days later PMO Director AHM Ahsan wrote to Bepza Executive Chairman Brigadier General (Retd) M Zakir Hossain, directing him to hand over the machinery to the purchasers immediately. Accordingly, the Bepza gave them notice to receive and remove the machines and vacate the mill premises within the two-week time from August 16 to 30.

But, in practice, they were denied the goods, as the Bepza in the meantime had floated a fresh tender and issued work orders to new parties to shift the machinery from a particular shed of the mills to another.

The Bepza claimed it had rushed for the second tender to vacate the shed immediately in order to get 29 plots ready by November for a foreign investor.

The Bepza move prompted the BJMC-awarded buyers to go to the High Court on August 16 and the court issued a rule nisi, asking the Bepza to show cause why its tender floating should not declared illegal.

Talking to The Daily Star yesterday, the Bepza executive chairman claimed, "We were waiting for the PMO directive, which we have received only today. But, now the parties have to go back to the court so that the rule issued upon us is vacated and we can deliver the machinery soon."

On the apprehended failure to meet the second deadline, November, for getting the AEPZ site ready, Zakir Hossain said, "We can still catch up, if we can hand over the machinery early next month and if the parties can vacate the mill zones within 15 to 45 days."

Hossain said, "We are in a hurry to get at least 29 industrial plots ready by November, as a single Hong Kong party wants them all to set up a textile mill with $25 million. The venture will create 10,000 jobs."

Apart from Hong Kong, the Adamjee EPZ has also received investment offers from Canada, Australia and Japan, he added.

When asked why did the Authority avoided the BJMC-awarded buyers for permanent disposal of the machinery, instead of floating a fresh tender, Hossain said they did it just to clear the place immediately.

AEPZ Project Director Shamsul Haq said as they are getting very good responses from foreign investors to set up industries at the new EPZ, their priority now is to vacate the area and prepare the industrial plots.

But the quarters concerned are sceptic about their success in meeting the second deadline, too.