Special Correspondent

Public Works Department ( PWD), a major government body in construction sector has turned into a transparent and accountable organisation under the dynamic leadership of Chief Engineer Mohammad Shamim Akhter.

Reliable sources said, with the integrity and efficiency of the head of the organisation and introduction of various new systems by him and his team wasting of huge money of the government by the PWD has been stopped.

When the PWD has turned around as a corruption -free departmed, a vested circle and syndicates have been hatching conspiracies and launching falsehoods and fabricated propaganda against the existing chief and the Department.

Besides, some corrupt self-interested engineers, contractors and officials of PWD have joined this propaganda and they are also trying to obstruct the development work by carrying out these propagandas.

Besides, this syndicate is working to weak skilled and honest engineers including the chief engineer and engineers, contractors and officials mentally.

It is learnt from several sources that for a long time there has been bribery in the PWD to get contractors' work. The syndicate contractors and engineers circle used to manage without doing the work properly and collect the bills and make the pockets heavy. In some cases, there are instances of fake bills being collected without working. There were allegations of such rampant corruption in this institution. Sensing that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina chose honest, skilled and experienced engineer Mohammad Shamim Akhter in December, 2020.

From the very beginning, the organized gang with a class of corrupt engineers and officials started spreading misinformation in various departments of the government including the Prime Minister's Office, Ministry of Housing and Public Works but engineers, officers and employees under the leadership of PWD chief Mohammad Shamim Akhter ignored it and started working in full-swing.

Particularly PWD Chief Engineer has been actively working ignoring all kinds of lies and fabricated propaganda. He is working tirelessly day and night to save the image of PWD. Dynamic and innovative activities led by Mohammad Shamim Akhter have prevented corruption and irregularities on the one hand, as well as ensured transparency and accountability along with mobility.

It is also learnt that the Chief Engineer and his team have to face multifaceted conspiracies to implement the 'Zero Tolerance' policy of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the then corrupt-ridden PWD.

Now, the work of 28 ministries is going on smoothly by facing all the obstacles and conspiracies and PWD has been working to build smart Bangladesh which is the dream of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina . This chief engineer is trying hard to stop wastage and corruption by digitizing all the activities of the Department.

Mohammad Shamim Akhter, Chief Engineer of Public Works Department, has changed the negative image of this government institution with his innovative initiative and sincere efforts. As a result, the violence of the corrupt syndicate around the government construction work has stopped.

Transparency and accountability have been ensured in the construction work. Proper quality of construction work in numerous government institutions and establishments is being ensured and wastage of government funds has been prevented. Due to these reasons, some self-interested officials of the organization have become active against the existing PWD Chief Engineer.

They want to destroy the current transparent image of the Public Works Department ( PWD) and return to the previous arbitrary state. Again a self-interested syndicate wants to take over the top post of the PWD by transferring Chief Engineer Mohammad Shamim Akhter.

Transparency and accountability are increasing in the construction of government buildings. In most cases, after approval of the project proposal (DPP), the estimated project's land acquisition and the delay in the preparation of architectural and structural design accordingly. Now project-wise time will be fixed and it is centrally supervised for the preparation of the architectural design framework and design and finishing schedule of the pre-estimated project will be done

In order to resolve the complexity of obtaining approved design for land acquisition, the problem will be identified from the Chief Engineer's office through the online project monitoring system and prompt action will be taken accordingly. Estimating software will enable accurate preparation and approval of estimates at the fastest possible time.

As a result, complications will be resolved in the case of tenders. A Procurement Cell headed by Chief Engineer has already been constituted to ensure transparency and accountability, prevent irregularities and bring dynamism in the tendering process of the construction works.

The delay in the tender approval process is being monitored based on the information received from the EGP server of the Chief Engineer's office. As a result, the tender approval process has been speeded up.

Overall, the PWD has now turned into a transparent department and positive image has been persisting among the concerned circle and people.