GK Shamim may lose his PWD contract
The Public Works Department (PWD) may cancel the construction work contracts of SM Golam Kibria Shamim, who was arrested on Friday on several charges, as it fears obstacles in the execution of the contractual projects due to his being in custody.
Shamim has been known to be an influential contractor of the PWD and other government organisations.
His company GKB and Company (Pvt) Limited was tasked with implementing 15 large construction projects of the government, involving around Tk 3,000 crore, said the company’s marketing manager Shafaeth Hossain on Saturday.
“If the projects’ implementation is hampered because of his absence, we will take legal measures, including cancelation of his contracts,” PWD Chief Engineer Md Shahadat Hossain told The Daily Star.
He, however, could not readily verify the number of construction contracts they currently have with Shamim.
Shamim was accused of tender manipulation, extortion, and running drugs and gambling rackets in one of the three cases filed against him on Saturday. After his arrest, he was taken on a ten-day police remand.
During a raid at Shamim’s house and office in the capital’s Niketan, Rab seized eight firearms, a huge amount of ammunition, Fixed Deposit Receipts of Tk 165 crore and around Tk 1.8 crore in cash, a large stash of American and Singaporean dollars and some foreign liquor.
Asked how Shamim could qualify for most of the PWD works, the PWD Chief said, “There was no allegation of tender manipulation against him filed by any affected party. So, he would be considered for a project if he would come as the lowest bidder.”
Moreover, it is not easy to intimidate the bidders in the electronic tendering process, he said.
Under anonymity, a former head of a government department under the public works ministry, however, said that apparently Shamim had the influence to control participation of bidders even in the electronic tendering process.
It would then not be possible to deny his eligibility for work if his company qualified technically and financially, he said.
His being in custody will surely affect the implementation of government projects contracted with him, as he is the one who solely oversees his company’s day-to-day activities, he added.
Some of the notable government construction projects, of which Shamim was the contractor, are Rapid Action Battalion headquarters, a 20-storey building at Bangladesh Secretariat, Hill Tracts Complex at Baily Road and a couple of government residential quarter buildings in Azimpur, official sources said.
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