Rejoinder, our reply
Dhaka Water Supply & Sewerage Authority has issued a rejoinder against a report headlined “JS body blasts Wasa boss for utility’s failure” published in The Daily Star on October 21.
In the rejoinder, Wasa said, “The reporting was totally wrong and baseless. Rather the JS body appreciated the progress of Dhaka Wasa in last 10 years under the leadership of its Managing Director Taqsem A Khan.
“The members of the committee were extremely pleased at the remarkable successes of Dhaka Wasa.”
“They reiterated that Dhaka Wasa has become the role model for other utility agencies in South Asia.”
Afterwards, they suggested being more careful on issues raised regarding Dhaka Wasa activities, it said.
OUR REPLY
Our report was based on detailed discussion with some members of the standing committee, one of whom -- a ruling Awami League MP -- spoke on record and we published his comment. Others spoke on an anonymous basis.
The press release issued by the standing committee (the Parliament Secretariat) following its October 20 meeting said in paragraph 4 that detailed discussion was held on published news reports on irregularities, corruption and mismanagement. [Iqvmvi Kvh©µg m¤ú‡K© wewfbœ mg‡q RvZxq ‰`wbK cwÎKvq cÖKvwkZ Awbqg `ybx©wZ I Ae¨e¯’vcbv m¤ú‡K© we¯ZvwiZ Av‡jvPbv Kiv nq|] It also asked Wasa to settle the audit objections expeditiously and warned that Wasa employees should not resort to corruption and irregularities.
The above observation hardly sound like the committee was “extremely pleased” or reiterated that “Dhaka Wasa was a role model” for South Asia.
We again talked to a few committee members who said the Wasa rejoinder did not reflect the proceedings of the standing committee.
We stand by our report.
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