Dhaka, May 25 -- Bangladesh's delay in constructing its first crude-oil refinery after independence is set to linger further as the interim government is also in the slow lane to implement the project like the previous ones.

Bangladesh had "failed" to build any crude-oil refinery over the past half a century after its independence, resulting in huge waste of foreign currencies that went into the import of refined oils from the international market, market insiders said.

Only "negligence" on the part of the authorities concerned is to blame, they added, in an indication of the dominance of rent-seeking import lobbies.

The country's currently operational maiden refinery - Eastern Refinery Ltd (ERL) - was built way back in 1968 by French ...