Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal yesterday said the government would discourage any public procurement without competitive bidding to ensure transparency and prevent wastage of money.

“We will try to follow the Open Tender Method in every work for the sake of transparency,” he told reporters at the Cabinet Division after a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.

It was the committee's first meeting after Kamal became the minister of finance earlier this month.

The minister, also the committee chairman, said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina didn't want to see any irregularities, errors and mistakes in any work.

Yesterday, the committee sent back the water resources ministry's proposal, the only one placed before the meeting, seeking to follow the Direct Procurement Method (DPM) for the physical works of Chandpur Irrigation Project and rehabilitation of Charbagadi Pump House and Hajimara regulator.

According to the public procurement act, if a government procurement authority wants to buy goods or services directly, it must have an approval from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs.

The finance minister said if the Open Tender Method (OTM) is followed, scope would be created for competition among all and the government would be able to have an idea about whether it is going to pay a proper price for a product or service.

Kamal said the project proposal of the water resources ministry was sent to the Planning Commission which recommended the authorities follow the OTM. But the procurement authority thought that the work consisting of various small packages could not be done in a coordinated way using this method and it would take more time, he added.

The meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs was followed by another one of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase.

The meeting approved the proposal for selection of project management consultancy services for Construction of Single Line Dual Gauge Railway Track from Dohazari to Cox's Bazar via Ramu to Ghumdhum near Myanmar.

It consented to appoint the consultant at a cost of Tk 38.51cr.

Kamal said the project is scheduled to be completed in 2022. The implementation of the project was delayed due to acquisition of land, he said, adding that the problem was over.

The minister said once the project is implemented, people will be able to travel from Dhaka to Cox's Bazar by train.