Editorial
A glaring instance of malpractice
The players are all identifiable, action should follow
HERE is a specific, tell-tale instance of corruption and malpractice glaring through any smock-screen of generalisation and deserving to be dealt with in public interest. It centres around a Tk 70 crore reconstruction project involving 50 city roads damaged in 2004 floods and undertaken by the Dhaka City Corporation under a Japanese assistance programme. So sloppy was the work done by 25 contractors handpicked by DCC that most of these had to redone in three years.
There are a number of specific infractions here the seminal being the publication of advertisement for tenders in poorly circulated newspapers in gross violation of the rules demanding these to be published in widely circulated national dailies. This deliberate ploy to award the contracts to favoured parties spun into greasing the palms of DCC officials at various stages -- before the work orders were issued, during the execution of the work through cuts from purchase and use of poor quality materials and underhand deals in the submission of fictitious bills. Scandalous revelations of billing for road stretches not paved or done in shoddy manner have often made news lines but no corrective or punitive action was ever taken. Similar was the fate with a large variety of public works like unfinished bridges popping out in shocking news photos in recent times.
Why nobody is held to account for this sheer waste of national resources, denial in terms of delivering basic public services and above all undermining our image before the development partners. One basic reason for this may be the corrupt working in cahoots like mutually shielding elements giving a damn to national or public interest.
Imagine the spokesperson of the DCC making light of the infraction about publishing the tender ad in a poorly circulated dailies by claiming to appear in the role of a saviour of such newspapers. Moreover, instead of being introspective, he adopted a diversionary tactic of saying that the allegations against the DCC resulted because of not having bribed a certain CAG official. The Controller General has asked for documentary evidence that a bribe was at all asked for.
Actually, there is no mechanism whereby the CAG's audit findings and allegations of corruption are followed up on and action processed and taken against those found responsible for lapses. In the specific case of execution of road contract projects DCC even didn't care to respond to the CAG objections. The organisation reported on, must be required by rules, to be answerable for the charges. That is the first step to take along with ordering investigation into the allegations.
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