| 122 labourers fixed a BTTB toilet pan! Over Tk 33cr misappropriated through fake worker deployment Courtesy Daily Star 21/10/08 Staff Correspondent It is beyond anyone's imagination that installing simply a pan in a toilet might need 122 labourers, but such is the case, at least on papers.
The officials of Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Ltd (BTCL), former BTTB, Khulna Division, showed deployment of 122 labourers for the task, enough for a couple of workers and misappropriated huge amount of money for their wages.
To go side by side with their colleagues in the race of corruption, another office of BTCL, Khulna Division, showed deployment of 100 labourers to clear its safety tanks, nearby weeds and repair power connection.
These were the means of corruption committed by different BTCL offices in Khulna in different fiscal years from 2000-2001 to 2007-2008, disclosed Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) at a briefing yesterday. The government staffs misappropriated over Tk 33.77 crore by showing fake deployment of labourers.
Investigations by the ACC found that though hundreds of labourers were shown deployed on cleaning purpose, the safety tanks in Shiromoni and Doulatpur exchanges were not cleared in the past several years. Only two labourers cleaned nearby weeds for two days, while no electric repair was done, investigations reveal.
Investigators say only 15-25 percent of the total work shown was done as money sanctioned for completing the tasks was misappropriated through various illegal means.
The ACC investigations unearth that the ASE, TCT or TCM and linemen used to get Tk 4,000, Tk 1,100 and Tk 800 every month respectively once schedule of a job was submitted.
The investigations were conducted through questioning the ASE, ADE, SDE, and DE and making field-level visits to Khulna, Khalishpur, Jessore, and Kushtia.
Of the misappropriated money, over Tk 33.52 crore was drawn by showing fake deployment of labourers in the name of maintenance and preservation and was shared among the government staffs, while the rest was spent in addition to the budget.
Khulna division has nine telecommunication offices under its jurisdiction.
The investigations also show that about Tk 24.6 lakh was spent in addition to the budgets of the fiscal years fixed at Tk 73.29 crore. Of the amount, Tk 41.91 crore was spent through schedule work and Tk 6.05 crore through estimation. | |