Irregularities found in SC project: ACC
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) has found preliminary evidence of the embezzlement of Tk 6.32 crore through alleged package splitting, irregularities in e-GP tenders and payments for work that had no physical existence under the “Construction of a Record Building for the Bangladesh Supreme Court” project.
An enforcement team from the ACC headquarters conducted an operation at Public Works Department (PWD) Division-4 on Wednesday, questioning relevant officials and collecting project-related documents.
After reviewing the documents and conducting an on-site inspection, the team found preliminary evidence supporting the allegations, the ACC said. ACC Assistant Director of Public Relations Md Tanzir Ahmed confirmed the development.
According to the ACC, the work order for the sole package, W-1, under the “Non-residential Building” component of the “Construction of a Record Building for the Bangladesh Supreme Court (1st Revised)” project was awarded to National Development Engineers Limited (NDEL) on November 16, 2023.
The work order was issued at a cost of Tk 1,557.04 crore after the package was approved by the Central Government Procurement Committee (CGP).
However, eight additional packages were subsequently created under the same component during the 2023-24 fiscal year.
Work orders for those packages were issued to different contractors through the e-GP system without approval from the Development Project Proposal (DPP), Revised Development Project Proposal (RDPP) or the Head of Procuring Entity (HOPE), according to the ACC.
Bills amounting to Tk 6,31,97,000 were paid against the eight additional packages.
The ACC enforcement team conducted a physical inspection of the works as part of its inquiry. During the inspection, it found no physical evidence of work corresponding to four of the eight packages-Packages 4, 5, 6 and 7.
The team also found no contracts or measurement books related to the contractors for those four packages, the ACC said.
On the other hand, the works under Packages 1, 2, 3 and 8 were found to have physical existence. However, a report submitted by the Executive Engineer of Dhaka PWD Division-4 stated that these works were essentially carried out by NDEL, the contractor originally awarded the W-1 package.
According to the ACC’s enforcement report, the preliminary findings indicate that the original W-1 package may have been unlawfully split into eight separate packages. Tenders were then invited through the e-GP system and payments were made against the packages despite several of the works having no physical existence.
The commission said the process resulted in the alleged loss and embezzlement of government funds amounting to Tk 6,31,97,000.
The ACC enforcement report identified then-Executive Engineer of Dhaka PWD Division-4 Md Saifuzzaman as primarily responsible for the alleged irregularities.
However, the enforcement team could not obtain Saifuzzaman’s statement or explanation during its operation.
The ACC said the findings were preliminary and that a detailed investigation would be necessary to establish the full extent of the irregularities.
The commission will submit an enforcement report recommending a detailed investigation to determine the responsibility of other officials involved, establish the actual amount of financial loss and identify the specific details of the alleged embezzlement.
The proposed investigation is also expected to examine how the additional packages were created, why they were tendered without the required approvals, the basis on which payments were made and the roles of the officials and contractors concerned.
