THE World Bank Group on Wednesday announced the six-month conditional non-debarment of Dhaka-based Golden Maritime Technology (GMT) in connection with a fraudulent practice under the bank-financed Urban Resilience Project in Bangladesh

The sanction of conditional non-debarment means that GMT will remain eligible to participate in projects and operations financed by institutions of the World Bank Group provided that it complies with its obligations under the settlement agreement.

"If these obligations are not satisfied within a six-month period, the conditional non-debarment will convert to a sanction of debarment with conditional release, and the company will then become ineligible to participate in World Bank Group-financed activities until the conditions for release set out in the settlement agreement are met," said an official statement.

The Urban Resilience Project is designed to strengthen the capacity of government agencies to respond to emergency events and reduce the vulnerability of new building construction to natural disasters in Dhaka and Sylhet. GMT had entered into an agreement to prepare a bid on behalf of another company and submitted unauthorised documents with falsified signatures as part of the bidding process.

"These actions constitute a fraudulent practice under the World Bank Group procurement guidelines," it stated.

The settlement agreement provides for a reduced period of sanction in light of GMT's cooperation and voluntary remedial actions.

As a condition for release from sanction under the terms of the settlement agreement, GMT commits to strengthening its integrity compliance program in line with the principles set out in the World Bank Group Integrity Compliance Guidelines. The company also commits to continue to fully cooperate with the World Bank Group Integrity Vice Presidency.