There have been complaints of widespread irregularities in the construction of the Noakhali District Modern Information Complex building. A syndicate of Awami League got this work worth around Tk 15 crore with the connivance of officials of the local public works department in 2023. Now it has been alleged that they are working somehow with low-quality construction materials through the influential people.
It has been found that the public works department has invited tenders on August 30, 2023, for the construction of a modern complex (Tender ID-866064) of the district. Later, without properly verifying the performance documents submitted by the contractors, the officials gave the construction order to the jointly owned Mostafa Consortium at a 10 percent lower price of Tk 13 crore 38 lakh 49 thousand 615 on October 2, 2023.
According to the investigation, M/s Mostafa & Sons, M/s Al-Amin Enterprises, and M/s Samshun Nahar Construction jointly formed the Mustafa Consortium. This consortium gets the job. But as a condition of getting work, twelve work completion certificates submitted by the later two organizations have already been proved fake. The then Executive Engineer of Noakhali Public Works Department (currently working in Bahmanbaria District), Saad Mohammad Andalib, and Sub-Divisional Engineer (SDE) Md. Emdadul Haque Mia's involvement has been alleged in this incident.
It is known that Golam Mortuza Munna, the owner of M/s Al-Amin Enterprise, who is responsible for the construction of the information building, is close to Ekramul Karim Chowdhury, the former Member of Parliament of Noakhali-4 (Sadar-Subarnachar) Constituency and the former General Secretary of the District Awami League, and Lutful Lahil Majid Russell, owner of M/s Samsun Nahar Construction and former Member of Parliament of Noakhali-3 (Begamganj) Constituency, is close to Mamunur Rashid Kiran, General Secretary of Begamganj Upazila Awami League. Golam Mortuza Munna is accused in the explosives case (number 27) filed at Sudharam Model Police Station on September 18.
Meanwhile, two contractors of the consortium to get the tender for this modern complex in the district have found evidence of cheating. The contracting firm M/s Al-Amin Enterprises submitted seven fake certificates of performance stating that they had done work worth Tk 21 crore 24 lakh 76 thousand 251 in four financial years.
On the other hand, Awami League leader Lutful Lahil Majid Russel's M/S Samsun Nahar Construction submitted five fake certificates of performance worth Tk 54 crore 97 lakh 59 thousand 271 decimal 77 to various institutions in three financial years.
These performance certificates obtained by the Khaborer Kagoj show numerous mistakes in the pad and writing of the Bangladesh Tourism Corporation certificate submitted by Al-Amin Enterprises. Apart from this, the deed dated 5th July 2020 filed by Samsun Nahar Construction was signed by the officer on 16th January of that year, and the deed dated 6th July 2020 was signed on 28th June, the previous month.
On the other hand, Nazrul Islam, manager of Bangladesh Tourism Corporation (completing), Principal Dr. Md. Wuzire Azam Khan, Noakhali Medical College (formerly Abdul Malek Ukil Medical College), and Md. Hafizul Haque, former engineer of Begumganj upazila and executive engineer of Chaumuhani municipality, and Mozammel Haque have confirmed that these submitted execution certificates are fake and not correct.
Professor Dr. Md. Wuzire Azam Khan, Principal of Noakhali Medical College, told the Khaborer Kagoj that after verifying the records of the medical college regarding the performance certificates submitted by the contractor, no authenticity was found.
Chaumuhani Municipal Executive Engineer Mozammel Haque told the Khaborer Kagoj that the performance certificates were verified and found to be correct. The matter has been informed to the concerned department.
It is learned that the last deadline to complete this work was December 2. It can be seen that so far the bill of about Tk three crore has been withdrawn till now, but the work has not progressed much. The first-floor roof of the building was poured in the last week of December after the expiry of the period. Also, bamboo centering has been used instead of steel centering, breaking the rules of public works. Apart from this, low-quality NGS cement, SS rods, and low-quality bricks, stones, sand, and particles are being used in the construction work.
Several contractors of the Public Works Department who did not want to be named said, Noakhali Public Works Department Sub-Divisional Engineer (SDE). Emdadul Haque helped the incompetent contractor to get the job by making irregularities. Now there are many irregularities in this work under his supervision, but he is pretending not to see it.
Shahidul Islam told Kiran newspaper, "I don't know anything about this work. I am neither in construction nor in financial transactions. Golam Mortuza Munna, owner of M/s Al-Amin Enterprises, has used my company's license to get the work done. He is now looking after everything and dealing with my approval on paper," Shahidul Islam Kiran, the owner of the joint contracting company Mostafa Consortium's M/s Mostafa & Sons, told the Khaborer Kagoj.
"Due to the flood, the work has been delayed. It is true that bamboo centering is used instead of steel. We will demand the bamboo centering bill from the Public Works Department," said Golam Mortuza Munna, owner of M/s Al-Amin Enterprises. He denied using substandard materials.
On the other hand, we called Saad Mohammad Andalib, former executive engineer of Noakhali Public Works Department (currently working in Bahmanbaria district), Golam Mortuza Munna, owner of M/s Al-Amin Enterprises, and Lutful Lahil Majid Russell, owner of M/s Shamshun Nahar Construction, repeatedly to inquire about the fake certificate, but no one picked up.
"It is not right to help the contractor to get the work. The public works department never approves bamboo centering instead of steel in modern building construction. Contractors have been repeatedly warned about this. Still they didn't listen. We will take necessary measures in this regard," said Md. Emdadul Haque Miah, Sub-Divisional Engineer (SDE) of the Noakhali Public Works Department.
"The work order had been given before I arrived. Now the issues of fake performance certificates, bamboo centering, and substandard work will be reported to the higher authorities. According to the instructions, action will be taken according to the rules," Kamrul Hasan, executive engineer of Noakhali Public Works Department, told the Khaborer Kagoj.
