THE Executive Committee of the National Economic Council on last Tuesday approved Tk 1079 crore, almost double the amount sanctioned earlier to adjust the increased cost of a project for the relocation of tanneries to Savar from the outskirts of the city. The government had earlier set aside Tk 545 crore for developing the new industrial site where the leather industries from Hazaribagh area of Dhaka city would eventually be relocated. The construction of a central effluent treatment plant (CETP) and dumping ground at the new industrial park under the ongoing plan remained the main obstacle towards shifting the leather factories to Savar. News reports published recently in this newspaper said the relocation project was at first undertaken in 2003 at a cost of Tk 175 crore and was scheduled to be completed by June 2005. Later, its cost was revised upwards to Tk 545 crore to build the CETP and the dumping ground under the project. The project titled "Tannery Industrial Estate, Dhaka (2nd revised) Project", required that the government would develop the industrial plots with adequate infrastructural facilities to hand over to the entrepreneurs. A CETP facility and dumping yard would also be established by June 2016 to ensure quality waste management. A total of 205 industrial plots have been already developed and distributed to owners of 155 leather plants now located at Hazaribagh so that they can turn to modern and environment-friendly methods of production at the new plots. But due to the delay in implementing the remaining work components and also due to the tanners' reluctance to shift their units, the project remained incomplete and was the main cause behind the phenomenal rise in the cost to over six times the original project cost. The government initially wanted to give 60 per cent of the project cost as a loan and 40 per cent as equity to plant owners, but later it decided to give 20 per cent cost as loan and 80 per cent as equity reportedly under pressure from the tanners. That means, the tannery owners have to repay only 20 per cent of the cost for installation of CETP by the next 15 years. The project cost also includes a Tk 250 crore compensation package for the tannery owners who will shift their plants to Savar. Meanwhile, the European Union has warned of implementing the project quickly or else it would stop buying leather products after 2014. Hazaribagh tannery plants are destroying the environment, and international buyers are pressuring the leather producers to move it out of the city. The High Court in a judgment in 2001 had asked the government to ensure that the tanneries were relocated out of the city area limits. But why it is taking so much time and public money remains the big question. We hope that the government will bring the issue to a final end and compel the tannery owners to relocate-thereby saving public monies and cleaning up the environment.