Inspection of lifts: PUST postpones Turkey tour by 6-member team
The Pabna University of Science and Technology (PUST) yesterday postponed a trip for Turkey, set to be taken by a six-member team to inspect lifts under an official procurement project.
The PUST public relations department posted a statement on its official Facebook page about halting the trip in the face of widespread criticism and also informed the matter to journalists over the phone.
"The university authority has postponed the visit of the university delegation to Turkey as per the direction of the president, also the chancellor of the university." Faruk Hossain Chowdhury, deputy director (DD) of the public relations department, stated in a Facebook post around 3:00pm.
Faruk said all activities surrounding the Turkey trip have been put off, and that they would complete the relevant paperwork when offices reopen after the weekend.
Earlier, the PUST authority formed a six-member delegation headed by pro-VC Mostafa Kamal Khan to go on a 10-day visit to Turkey on June 6 for a "pre-shipment inspection" of lifts to be purchased by the university.
On May 31, The Daily Star published an article titled "Off to Turkey to see lifts!" that was followed by widespread criticism across the country.
Anjan Chowdhury Pintu, PUST regent board member, told journalists yesterday that there were many lifts of the same company being used in Bangladesh, so there was no need to go to Turkey to inspect them, and that the planned inspection visit was an absolute misuse of public money.
The university undertook a Tk 520 crore development project under which five highrise academic and administrative buildings have been constructed; 25 lifts are needed for these buildings.
Hossain Construction Pvt Ltd, based in Dhaka, built them and the firm has also been awarded the job of installing 25 lifts.
"The lifts were supposed to be shipped to PUST after getting approval from the pre-shipment delegation team," a source in the university said.
Asked about the next step of procurement of the lifts and their shipment, Faruk Hossain said the higher authority would take the decision on the matter.
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