Bangladesh News

The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) in its primary report on corruption in the Roads and Highways (R&H) Department revealed that irregularities in constructing two roads resulted in the loss of Tk 29 crore to the state exchequer, not to mention the roads are unusable now.

The ACC investigation disclosed that officials concerned in R&H in collaboration with contractors used substandard materials, did not maintain procurement regulations or follow specifications for construction and misappropriated Tk 29 crore.

The R&H department constructed a 55-km-long road to Hatirkumrul in Sirajganj from Bonpara spending Tk 310.24 crore. The contractors used soil in construction instead of sand and the road started developing potholes soon after construction and has became unusable now. The state exchequer lost Tk 24.95 crore due to this.

The 48-km-long Dhaka bypass was constructed spending Tk 290 crore. The contractor used brick gravels and sand for paving the base of the road at a ratio of 1:16 instead of the specified ratio of 1:4. This road has also become unusable and the state exchequer lost Tk 4 crore.

The ACC yesterday revealed the findings to the media during a routine press briefing at the ACC headquarters.

The ACC investigation also found that the contractors in their papers showed the use of standard materials and materials specified for construction. But in reality they violated the rules and regulations.

“Action will be taken against the people responsible according to the laws within a short time. And the ACC team is preparing to take action,” ACC Director General (admin) Col Hanif Iqbal said refusing to disclose the names of people responsible for the sake of ongoing investigation.

“The actual loss of money and misappropriation of money can be confirmed once the investigation is complete. This is a primary report,” Hanif added.

BONPARA-HATIRKUMRUL ROAD
The road was constructed with the financial help of World Bank between December 1, 1998 and December 31, 2002. The road was constructed in four phases.

The investigation revealed that most irregularities and corruption took place during the second phase of construction–25km of road (from the fourth km to 29km) by one construction firm and 14km (from 29th km to 43rd km) by another firm.

The ACC said the 39km of road, in phase-2, was constructed using 4.77 percent asphalt concrete bitumen ignoring the specification of using 5.70 percent. The contractors in collaboration with R&H employees used one percent bitumen less.

The contractors also used local soil for road construction instead of using sand which is dredged up for this purpose. The contractors also submitted bills showing that they used the best quality soil, where soil is required for construction, even though they used the lowest quality.

DHAKA BYPASS
The bypass was constructed in Gazipur, Dhaka and Narayanganj between 1997 and 2006 to ease traffic congestion in the capital. The road was constructed so that vehicles heading to the northern part of the country from Chittagong, and vice versa, could bypass Dhaka via Narayanganj, Rupganj and Gazipur.

The road started developing potholes soon after it was constructed and at a stage became unusable.

The investigation revealed that public procurement regulations were not followed in constructing the road. The probe also found that a total of 429 contractors were used only for completing the soil-related work and another 97 contractors paving the road.

The contractors also used substandard materials and violated construction specifications.

SPOUSES OF 8 RHD OFFICIALS TO BE ASKED TO REVEAL WEALTH
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has approved issuance of notices on the spouses of eight Roads & Highways Department (RHD) officials asking them to submit wealth statements to the commission.

The anti-graft watchdog, meantime, has approved four proposed charge sheets against five people accused of misappropriating money and taking bribes and has given the nod to two final reports.

ACC Director General (Admin) Col Hanif Iqbal disclosed the commission’s decision at a press briefing yesterday.

The spouses of the R&H officials who would be asked to report their wealth are Saleha Banu, wife of additional chief engineer Shahabuddin, GS Raihan, wife of former additional chief engineer Adam Ali Gazi, Rahena Rahman and Samaituha Mariam, wives of superintendent engineers Arifur Rahman Zinnah and MA Moktadir Belal, Hosne Ara Haque, Afzala Hossain and Razia Sultana, wives of executive engineers Sanaul Haque, Khandaker Golam Mostafa and Georgis Hossain, and Selina Haque, wife of deputy assistant engineer Nurul Haque.

The ACC has approved charge sheets against Shaban Ali, auditor at upazila accounts office in Natore’s Gurudashpur upazila, Hamidul Haque Tokder, food inspector at upazila food controller’s office in Jaldhaka upazila of Nilphamari, and Mojibor Rahman, upazila project implementation officer in Baliadangi upazila of Thakurgaon. They were accused of taking Tk 1,500, Tk 1050, and Tk 5,000 in bribe.

Another two officials, including former family planning officer in Bogra Khadiza Khanam, would be charged with misappropriating Tk 3,79,500 and destroying evidence of the crime.

The ACC approved two final reports exonerating Court Sub-Inspector Ali Hossain from misappropriation of liquor and Solaiman Ghani, a union parishad chairman in Lalmonirhat, from misappropriation of seven bundles of CIS sheets.