Masum Billah Imran, Khulna Bureau:
After the mass uprising of the students on August 5, the government has changed. But Khulna WASA has not changed. The fascist Awami League is still running, without a project director, the administrative system is broken, there is a telesmati business going on with the appointment of the project director of the HJB, the Awami League-appointed Superintendent Engineer Khan Selim Ahmed is accused of corruption.
Currently, bypassing the acting WASA Managing Director, the clever officer Khan Selim Ahmed is preparing to start the tender process for some packages of the project.
In such a situation, being very strategic, the Superintendent Engineer, who is working as the project director of the discussed and criticized Khulna Sewage System Development Project. Urbanists have doubts whether it will be able to implement the sewage system for the city dwellers.
Currently, this messy and unfinished KSSDP project is being entrusted to another engineer, and he is very strategic in taking over the responsibility of the project director of Khulna Water Supply Project, Phase Two, without asking him in any way, but keeping everyone in a state of confusion.
It is known that Mr. Khan Salim Ahmed has been in government service for a little over two years.
There is currently no chief engineer in Khulna WASA. A supervising engineer and three executive engineers are working. One of them has been working as the focal person for this project for the last two years, one is in KSSDP and the other is in charge of WASA zonal.
Meanwhile, the supervising engineer and an Asian Development Bank consultant, Mr. Sudhir Kumar Ghosh, are in charge of preparing the DPP for this Phase Two project. They determine and attach various packages of the project to the DPP and make changes and enhancements as usual.
According to sources, this project is now awaiting presentation to the ECNEC after the PEC meeting of the Planning Commission. However, before that, the list of project manpower will have to be approved by the Ministry of Finance.
According to sources, the list has already been sent to the ministry; where the name of any one of the Chief Engineer or Supervising Engineer or Executive Engineer has been proposed to be the project director and the PD has been appointed subject to the approval of the ministry.
Suchatur, Supervising Engineer Khan Selim Ahmed has been revised again to become the project director of Khulna Water Supply Project Phase Two, and the DPP has made provisions for the appointment of the said project director, excluding the executive engineer from there and only the Chief Engineer or Supervising Engineer has been made to be the project director.
The current managing director of Khulna WASA and additional divisional commissioner of Khulna said, I have not yet seen the conditions for appointing a PD. If such a file comes, I will see it and forward it. I have not received any file so far.
Sheikh Ashraf-uz-Zaman, president of the Greater Khulna Unnayan Sangram Coordination Committee, said, “There is doubt about how much citizens will benefit from the sewerage work in Khulna city. Apart from that, there is no coordination in the work of roads, drains and sewerage. This is gradually increasing the suffering of the people.” WASA had made it an arena of corruption.
Roksana Rahman, joint secretary of the Ministry of Finance, said that when it comes to the finance department, we will be able to tell what is the situation, we have not yet received it from the finance department. We will not be able to say until we receive it from the finance department.
Advocate Babul Howlader, member secretary of the Khulna Civil Society, an organization of conscious citizens, said, “For the past 16 years, everything in Khulna has been running under the Awami League’s direction, and WASA is no exception.”
Although the supervising engineer is currently working as the project director of the Khulna Sewerage System Development Project, which may take a few years to complete. According to information, it is now clear to many that he wants to become the project director of the Phase Two project. Then, how and when will the project director of the Khulna Water Supply Project Phase Two be appointed and whether this project will be properly managed remains a question.
Which is considered very risky in the implementation of the Khulna Water Supply Project, Phase Two by the conscious city dwellers.
