A contractor has allegedly been given a contract worth over Tk1.67 crore in exchange for money in Gopalganj.
Gopalganj District Council received a written complaint in this matter where it is mentioned that the government stands to lose about half a crore taka because of the fraud.
The complaint was filed with the district administrator by other tender participants Al Husain Mamun, Md Yunus Sardar, Md Sourav, Ujjal Khan and Ripon Kazi, who also demanded the tender be cancelled and a new one be held.
The written complaint stated that a tender of Tk1,67,86,124.90 was floated for a light and sound system for the Tungipara upazila auditorium.
Contracting companies The Azad Engineers, M/s Monir Traders, M/s Md Sayeedur Rahman, SM Elias Hossain, M/s Aradhana Enterprise, M/s Sourav Traders, M/s KNR Builders, M/s GGILL & ST (JVC), M/s SK & JC (JVC), M/s Asian Power Engineers, M/s Yunus Traders, and M/s Amanat Enterprise submitted bids for the tender. Of these, the lowest bid of Tk99,43,930 was from M/s GGILL & ST (JVC).
The quotation by KNR Builders was not accepted for failure to submit pay order.
It is alleged that nine of the other eleven contractors were fraudulently considered non-responsive, despite proper submission of papers.
The complaint mentioned that Assistant Engineer Arun Kumar Das of the district council illegally facilitated to give the contract to SM Elias at the higher quotation of Tk1,67,86,124.90.
According to government procurement policy, bids by a joint venture company (JVC) for a tender less than Tk2 crore will not be accepted. But the bid M/s GGILL & ST (JVC) was not cancelled, it was instead considered the second-lowest bidder.
It was also claimed that the papers submitted by contracting company SM Elias is not in accordance with the government’s tender policy, and the company also fails to meet several conditions of the tender.
Md Helaluddin Munshi, a representative of M/s Md Sayeedur Rahman, said: “Arun Kumar Das facilitated the contract for the highest bidder instead of the lowest one to make some money. If the government goes for a re-tender then it will be benefitted.”
Assitant Engineer Arun Kumar Das denied all allegations saying: “There were no irregularities in the tender process. The lowest bidder has been selected following the government policy.”
