Sohel Kanti Nath, Bandarban

Bandarban Civil Surgeon Dr. Mohammad Shaheen Hossain Chowdhury has opened up about raising an extra 3 crore taka by supplying only 1 crore taka of medicines and other equipment against the remaining 4 crore taka bill. He said that earlier all the tender processes were manual.

However, this is the first time that the tender process was in EGP. This time, a total of 5 contracting companies participated in the EGP tender process. Out of the 6 packages, Alamgir & Brothers got one and MSM got 5. He further said that those who have been managing everyone manually and dividing the work for many years have also tried to increase the work by putting it in the system.

However, because I was adamant, the contractors could not facilitate. That is why these contractors have started conspiring. So far, the contractors of the relevant work have supplied 95 percent of the medicines and other equipment and will supply 100 percent of the equipment by July 15. Regarding the bill, he said that since the supply of the remaining equipment will be completed by the end of June and within a few days, the bill has been kept. However, not a single bill has been paid to the contractor yet. The bill is still kept in the district council. If the contractor completes the equipment 100%, then the bill will be given to him. He further said that an investigation is underway into the matter, and I hope that the real truth will come out and those who conspired will be exposed.

Abu Zahid, a representative of MSM Contracting Establishment, said, "We brought medicine yesterday and will bring it today as well. We have already ensured the supply of 95 percent of the medicine and other equipment. We hope to be able to supply 100 percent of the medicine and other equipment within a few days." He said, "It is not right to raise a bill of 4 crore taka after supplying medicine and equipment worth 1 crore taka. We have not received a single bill yet. We have only raised the bill for the month of June, which is still with the District Council. We will raise this bill after completing the work."

Meanwhile, a 5-member investigation team was formed on Tuesday (June 30) through a letter signed by Chief Executive Officer of the Hill District Council Mohammad Nazrul Islam against Bandarban Civil Surgeon Dr. Mohammad Shahin Hossain Chowdhury for purchasing medicines worth Tk 1 crore and collecting a bill of Tk 4 crore from the Hill District Council without supplying 100% medicines and equipment. Later, the team officials inspected the hospital on Wednesday (July 1) morning.

The investigation team consists of 5 members: Chief Executive Officer of the Hill District Council Mohammad Nazrul Islam, Deputy Director of the Family Planning Department Dr. Lenin Talukder, PS2 Chairman (retd) of the Hill District Council Muha Abul Mansur, Executive Engineer Parakram Chakma and Accounts and Audit Officer M, Muhibbul Hasan.

At this time, Chief Executive Officer of the Hill District Council Mohammad Nazrul Islam said, State Minister for the Ministry of Hill Affairs Mir Mohammad Helal Uddin has directed to investigate the allegations made regarding the tender for the Bandarban Sadar Hospital and take action.

The Chairman of the Bandarban Hill District Council has given me the responsibility in this regard. We have informed the Civil Surgeon in this regard that we have come here to cooperate with them. We will check whether the tender process is correct here and we will report whether the materials, including medicines, included in the tender were purchased correctly.