Md Alamgir Hossain, Longadu (Rangamati)

There have been allegations of widespread irregularities in the construction of government primary school buildings in Longadu Upazila of Rangamati.

On the spot it is found in Sonargaon Government Primary School that low quality bricks, sand and stone are being used in the construction of two-storey buildings. The same evidence was found in the Forermukh Government Primary School building. The construction of most of the schools in the upazila, including Taltala, is going on amid widespread irregularities.

It is learnt that in 2024, the foundation stone of the construction of the two-storey building of Sonargaon Government Primary School of Gulshakhali Union of Longadu Upazila was laid. The work is being implemented by the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED).

A contractor named Ripon Kumar Das got the job with an allocation of Tk 1 crore 20 lakh 58 thousand 299. Since the beginning of the construction, the contractor has been using low quality bricks, sand and stones. In the under-construction building, it was seen that the floor was crumbling with cracks during the plastering process. The school management committee has complained about these issues to the engineering department of LGED. Still the contractor is working with substandard materials.

Khairul Hasan, vice-president of the school management committee, said, currently, the contractor has decided to make the floor with low-quality bricks, some bricks and sand have also been laid on the floor, but we have forbidden to work with low-quality number two bricks.

Acting headmaster of the school Anwar Hossain said, "I forbade them when they took these two bricks from the boat, but they did not listen. Later, if they put these two bricks on the floor, we gave instructions to stop the work.

Jamal Hossain, the newly appointed head teacher said, I have been transferred to Sonargaon Primary School, I will join on February 1. But in the meantime, when I went to visit the school, I noticed the irregularities in the ongoing work of the new building and asked to stop the workAt that time, the contractor replied to me, "We have been doing the work of various schools like this, we have cast the floor without bricks anywhere, there is no problem anywhere."

Khokon, a member of Ward No. 3 of Sonargaon area, said, "I don't know this, no one has ever told me, so I have not spoken about it." But from a distance, it seems that there are two numbers at work, as a person of the area, I want the work to be good.

Longadu Upazila Engineer Shamsul Alam said, we will visit the site tomorrow and take action if we find any irregularities. Although the contractor called Ripon Kumar Dash several times to inquire about the complaint, he did not pick up the phone but hung up the call, so it was not possible to get his statement.

Longadu Upazila Nirbahi Officer Kofiluddin Mahmud said, since the information has been given, we are taking necessary measures very quickly.