Zakir Azad, Cumilla

As soon as you enter the Cumilla City Corporation (CCC) office, namely the Nagar Bhaban, you will see an 'amazing' elevator that has risen to the sky.

 This elevator has been installed to go up to the second floor of the two-storey building, which cost Tk 58 lakh 85 thousand 340 to build. However, those concerned consider such an expense to go up to the second floor of the building to be unusual and unnecessary. 

Since the elevator, which was built in collusion with corrupt officials of the City Corporation and looters, is no longer in use, it has now become a symbol of corruption in the CCC building.

The investigation revealed to The Country Today that in the elections held on June 15, 2022, Awami League-supported candidate and Comilla Metropolitan Awami League General Secretary Arfanul Haque Rifat was elected mayor of Comilla City Corporation. As Rifat, who was physically ill, could not climb the stairs on the second floor of the City Corporation building, an initiative was taken to quickly install an elevator for him.

A work order was given to a company called 'Dreams Un Limited' to install that elevator. The company was given 27 lakh 9 thousand 990 taka for the supply and installation of the elevator and another 31 lakh 75 thousand 350 taka for the construction of the elevator structure, making a total of 58 lakh 85 thousand 340 taka. 

However, the market price of such an elevator with a capacity of 630 kg in the country is between 11-13 lakh taka at most.

Locals say that such an expense for a simple two-story building is unreasonable and a waste of taxpayers' money. That elevator is now lying unused. Because there is no real need to use the elevator to go up to the second floor of the building. Even after going up to the roof of the building, the elevator stops there, and it seems that the elevator has risen into the sky.

It is also known that the owner of Dreams Un Limited, Manu, is a resident of Deshwalipatti in Comilla city and is known to be close to former MP AK Mobahuddin Bahar. He is currently in jail in a case. Recently, the anti-discrimination student crowd caught him and handed him over to the police.

Arfanul Haque Rifat fell seriously ill a few days after the mayoral election and used to do office work from home most of the time. He died while undergoing treatment at Mount Elizabeth Hospital in Singapore on December 13, 2023. After his death, the elevator has been practically abandoned.

The question of the city residents is, why is there no investigation into such waste and corruption in the city building built with the hard-earned money of the taxpayers? They believe that these looting projects are completed by completing all kinds of official procedures in connivance with corrupt officials of the City Corporation. They prepare the looting project and share the loot, but the officials also keep all the ways open for survival.

The people of Comilla demand that those involved in these irregularities should be brought to justice through a speedy investigation.

A citizen of the Comilla City Corporation said, “This is an example of extreme corruption. Installing an elevator for a two-story building at a cost of about 6 million taka is not only a waste, it is a betrayal of the people.”

Another senior citizen said, “This elevator is not just iron and machinery – it is a monument to the corruption of Comilla.