Cancel jobs of dubious contractors
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday asked the officials concerned to cancel all contracts with controversial companies and float fresh tenders or award the jobs to sub-contractors.
She also directed that no contractor would be allowed to do more than two construction jobs at a time.
The PM gave the directives at yesterday’s meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec).
She approved the time extension proposal of a health ministry project, whichwas assigned toGK Builders and Company (pvt) Ltd in 2010, says a planning ministry official, who attended the meeting.
The company is owned by Golam Kibria Shamim, popularly known as GK Shamim, who was arrested in the capital last month. He is now in jail in drugs and illegal arms cases.
The Directorate General of Health Services started the project to build National Institute of Laboratory Medicine and Referral Centre in the capital’s Sher-E-Bangla Nagar in July 2010, with a deadline of June 2013.
But the company was yet to complete the work.
Like this project, almost all the government projects need frequent time extension, resulting in a rise in construction costs and other complexities, officials say.
The planning ministry official said the PM came down heavily on GK Builders and other controversial contractors who grabbed a large number of government projects and repeatedly missed deadlines.
Expressing her dissatisfaction, Hasina asked how a company could get such a large number of government work and directed the authorities concerned to award the rest of the work of controversial contractors to second-placed bidders.
Officials present in the meeting told the PM that it was not legally possible.
The PM then suggested fresh tenders or assigning sub-contractors.
On the lack of experience of some companies, the PM asked for assigning new contractors so that they could get the experience.
Shamim’s company is listed with the Public Works Division. The company is implementing 13 large government projects, according to media reports.
As the government has frozen his bank accounts, completion of the projects has become uncertain.
Except the 13 projects, the company is also co-contractors in 42 more projects across the country, the reports say.
The contract value of the projects is Tk 4642.20 crore. Of the amount, the company has already withdrawn Tk 1,301 crore.
Meanwhile, the Ecnec yesterday approved five other projects, including new and amended ones, worth Tk 4636.8 crore.
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