The Power Development Board (PDB) counted over Tk 1,600 crore in losses in the last six years and a Jatiya Sangsad body attributed this to corruption, systems loss and mismanagement.

Scrutinising a PDB report, the Undertaking Committee of the Jatiya Sangsad yesterday expressed its dissatisfaction over the performance of the organisation, asking it to take steps to become profitable.

Terming the PDB affair a vast complicated maze, Abdul Alim, chairman of the committee, desired to sit again to discuss at length about its activities and corruption and mismanagement.

"The PDB incurs huge amounts

in losses every year because of its mismanagement, corruption and systems loss. The PDB chairman also admitted existence of some management anomalies," committee member Dr Rustam Ali Faraji told The Daily Star after the meeting.

In his defence, PDB Chairman Syed Abdul Mayeed cited several problems that led to the loss but assured the committee of taking steps to combat corruption.

"Trade unionism is a huge barrier to attaining a better management at the PDB. We had to compromise with union leaders all the while. We often cannot implement some projects even because of their pressure," a source quoted the PDB chairman as saying.

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As per the report submitted at the meeting, the PDB losses in the FY 1996-97 is Tk 125.86 crore, in 199798 Tk 8.24 crore, in 1998-99 Tk 320.40 crore, in 1999-2000 Tk 394.41, in 2000-2001 Tk 374.87 and in 2001-2002 Tk 375.11 crore.

The committee also came down hard on the PDB for making people suffer through below-par customer service, including false billing and random load shedding.

The PDB chairman said nearly 6,203 out of the 25,691 posts have remained vacant for over 10 years. To ensure better customer service, appointments to at least 3,440 posts, both technical and nontechnical, have to be made on an urgent basis, he argued.

Besides, the Rural Electrification Board (REB), the Dhaka Electricity Supply Authority (DESA), and the Dhaka Electricity Supply Company (DESCO) also submitted their reports before the meeting.

Some audit reports on the power sector were also placed by the office of the comptroller and auditor general (CAG) but the meeting ran out of time to discuss these issues.

Other members of the committee Alamgir Mohammad Mahfuj Ullah Farid, Abul Kalam and Salah Uddin Ahmed and officials from respective departments attended the meeting at the Sangsad Bhaban.