Dhaka Bureau: 9 elevators and a 2400-ton capacity chiller AC are being purchased for the new 20-story building in the Secretariat, the heart of the administration. Three bureaucrats of the Ministry of Housing and Public Works and seven engineers of the Directorate of Public Works are going on a foreign tour in the name of buying these lifts and ACs. It is known that they will travel to Switzerland, France, and Malaysia in three separate groups.
Recently, the office order issued by the Ministry of Public Works revealed information about the foreign travel of 10 officials.
According to the order, Sheikh Noor Mohammad, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Public Works, Abdus Sattar, Executive Engineer of the Directorate of Public Works, and Sub-Divisional Engineer Bakhtiar Ahmed were supposed to go to France from May 16 to 20 of this month to buy 2,400 tons of chiller AC for central air conditioning management. At the same time, the Ministry’s Joint Secretary Naila Ahmed, Directorate Executive Engineer Mushfiq Ahmed, and Divisional Engineer Md. Kamruzzaman were supposed to go to Malaysia.
Apart from this, Public Works Ministry Additional Secretary Shakila Zereen Ahmed, Public Works Supervising Engineer Humaira Binte Reza, Chief Engineer Staff Officer (Executive Engineer) Mahfuzul Alam, and Directorate of Architecture Executive Engineer Shahnaz Masud are said to visit Switzerland for six days from May 10 to 15. Another office order.
According to the related sources, the cost of 22 crore 46 lakh taka has been estimated for nine elevators in the 20-story building of the secretariat. Among them, six lifts have a capacity of 1600 kg. Of the remaining three, two are 1,000 kg and one is 630 kg. Apart from this, the cost of buying 2400 tons of chiller AC is estimated at 51 crore, 84 lakh, and 73 thousand taka.
On condition of anonymity, an official said, “Tk 17 crore was estimated for the purchase of lifts. There has been an increase of about 40 percent to about 22 crores now. Apart from this, 10 crore rupees are being shown for the purchase of furniture in this project. But if the furniture was bought in competition instead of from a certain company, then there is at least 3 crore rupees.
Housing and Public Works Secretary. Nabirul Islam told the media, “In the case of buying any product, the PSI issue is mentioned in the project estimate. Travel expenses are provided from there. Now we are going to take the initiative. As new estimates are made, travel expenses will be segregated. The government can cancel it if it wants.
