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Freewheeling bigwigs

The Daily Star investigation at Secretariat reveals ministers, secretaries use luxury cars flouting rules

Rafiq Hasan
On Thursday morning, January 5, a luxurious shiny Nissan Patrol car drove to the Secretariat and a man in expensive black suit got down from it as soon as it parked on the lobby of the 20-storey building.
The man is State Minister for Civil Aviation Mir Mohammad Nasir Uddin. But the expensive car with the number-plate reading Dhaka Metro Gha-11-2369 belongs to the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (Caab).
The minister Uses the car exerting his authority. Such sports utility vehicles (SUVs)were supposed to be used to supervise development projects at the field level. But scores of such cars enter the government's main office building every day because the top officials use those ignoring government rules.
This correspondent observed the movement of such cars at the Secretariat last Thursday from 9:00am to 2:00pm and counted a total of 108 SUVs parked inside the secretariat.
On investigation it was found that Education Minister Osman Fanuq came by the car, Dhaka Metro Gha-11-4250, a Land Cruiser Prado. This car belongs to the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education at the Education Bhaban.
He is using it although the government has
specifically allocated him a luxurious car like the ones giventoother ministers.
The driver of this vehicle said that the directorate engages this car for the use of the minister round the clock, lite minister bears thefuel cost
State Minister for Water Resources Goutam Chakraborty came by a Mitsubishi Pajero jeep with the number Dhaka Metro Gha 11-2032.
Energy Secretary Nazrul Islam came to office in his Mitsubishi Pajero jeep with the number of Dhaka Metro-3153.
Youth and Sports Secretary Suzauddin uses the luxury jeep of the National Sports Council. The number of the car is Dhaka metro-11-3783. He also uses another car given by the government's transportpool.
State Minister for Communication Salahuddin Ahmed rides a SUV jeep with number Dhaka Gha-112739. State Minister for Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment Mohammad Quamrul Islam uses another luxury car bearing the number 11-3641.
Communications Secretary Shafiqul Islam drove in by a Nissan Patrol jeep with the number of Dhaka Metro Gha-11, 2728. MR Chowdhury, a deputy sccrctaryoftliesamcministry.camcbyaMitsubislii Pajero jeep Dhaka Metro- Cha-5143.
State Minister for Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) Ziaul Haque Zia came by a Nissan Patrol jeep with the number of Dhakametro-Ghall-3817.
His Private Secretary Delwar Hossain uses another Toyota land cruiser four wheeler with the numberplate Dhaka Metro-Gha 02-1860. The car belongs to the Department of Public Health Engineeringunder the ministry.
Jamaat-e-Islaml MP and Chairman of the standing committee on the Ministry of Religious Affairs Moulana Delwar Hossain Saidee camebyaPajerojeepwiththenumber of Dhaka Metro Gha- 2279. The car belongs to the Islamic Foundation.
According to sources, this car was previously used by State Minister for Religious Affairs Mosharref Hossain Shajahan. When the Foundation gave the state minister a new car, this one was then given to the MP
State Minister for Energy AKM MosharrafHossain uses several cats of Petrobangla and its subsidiaries. State Minister for Education Ehsanul Haque Milon often uses a car belonging to the National Curriculum and TextbookBoard (NCTB).
According to sources, most of the ministers, state ministers, secretaries and joint secretaries exerting their powerusemorethanone luxury car in addition to the government allocated mid-range Sedan car which mainly serve their family at the state's expense.
It's not just the ministers and the secretaries who enjoy multiple cars at the expense of the taxpayers; in some cases, influential deputy secretaries and even some influential private secretaries to the ministers, who are not supposed to get any official car, get touseluxuriousSUVs.
They prefer using SUVs belonging to the subsidiary organisations under their ministries, an investigation of The Daily Star reveals.
This practice forces the subsidiary organisations to borrow others' cars or avail other means of transportation when they need it to carry out official work. SUVs are used to make field trips to superviseproject implementation.
The wives, children and other family members of those top officials rampantly use these project cars for going to school and shopping and to placesformomingoreveningwalk.
Officially; each of the top bureaucrats gets one car and a driver from the government transport pool. But in reality most of them use two to three cars, mostofwhichareSUVs.
Sources at the government transport pool said they mainly provide Nissan Sunny cars to the ministers, state ministers and secretaries. The joint secretaries and deputy secretaries getTbyota cars.The pool has a few luxurious cars or SUVs like Nissan Patrol, Mitsubishi Pajero, Prado, Toyota Land Rover, Land Cmlser and so on for special use.
But at the Secretariat, this correspondent found scores of latest SUVs and luxury cars carrying high officials who are not supposed to have them. Each of these cars costs from Tk 20 lakh toTk40 lakh.
The car drivers told The Daily Star that the cars mainly belong to various donor-iunded development projects. Theirdutiesstart in themomingwhen they take the children of the bureaucrats to schools and colleges. The drivers' official duty, which includes taking the wives, children and relatives to shopping houses of relatives and weddings, among other things, usually ends late in the evening.
According to sources, top officials alsousegovemmentcarstogooutside Dhaka and forpolitical purposes.The subsidiary almost always bears the cost of drivers and fuel for private use of theseluxury vehicles by topbureaucrats.
In most cases, the top government officials take the cars from the subsidiary organisations by verbal orders.
The subsidiary directorates or departments under various ministries buy latest model luxurious cars with money from donor-funded projects. But the departments or directorates generally never hand those cars over to the government transport pool even when theprojects are complete.
The Ministry of Planning admitted to the newly formed Anti-Corruption
Commission that only 133 cars out of 4,230 bought by government organisations in the last six years were handed over to the transport pooI.The government could not find out the whereabouts of the rest of the cars mosdy bought under development projects.
But according to sources, the subsidiary bodies kept the cars for use of their top officials sometimes with the permission from the ministries concerned and often without permission.
In exchange for the permission, they provide one or two cars to the ministers, secretaries and joint secretaries of die parent ministries.
The Directorate of fisheries has around 45 latest SUVs. This correspondent found 26 shiny cars parked in front of the directorate at Matshya Bhaban during a visit Of them, 14 were of latest model Toyota Land Cruiser, Land Rover, Nissan Patrol and Mitsubishi Pajero four wheelers.
The officials of the directorate told The Daily Star that most of those cars came from various donor-funded projects.
All the directors, deputy directors and even some assistant directors of thedirectorate have unofficial can
The government drivers of the directorate toldThe Daily Star that the directorate often provides cars to the high officials of the ministry. One Pajero jeep is permanently used by the minister concerned and another by thesecretary.
Talking to The Daily Star, Assistant Director of Directorate of fisheries ilafiqul Islam, who looks after the transport related issues, admitted that most of the cars were bought for donor-funded projects. Although there is a rule to hand over cars to the transport pool after the projects are finished, this is rarely complied with, headdecL
There are some abandoned cars in the garage of the Directorate of Fisheries because these came in such a bad shape that the pool officials did not accept them, Islam pointed out. The cars would be sold out through auction, hesaid.
During one investigation, it was found that a luxurious jeep was parked in front of Ramna Park. The driver of the car toldThe Daily Star that the car belonged to the Directorate of Primary and Mass Education, but the secretary used the car.
The driver said that the wife of the secretary came to the park for evening walkandthatsheoftenusesthecarfor shopping and other personal purposes. The secretary uses the trapsport pool car for official purposed "the cost of the driver and fuel of the carls borne by the directorate. The driver gets full overtime every month for his service.
Several government officials told The Daily Star that many ministers and secretaries do not want to take car from the transportpoolbecauseoflow quality of the vehicles and poor services. The drivers of the transportpool often do not behave well and fail to 'satisfy the top officials'. On the other hand, the drivers under subsidiary bodies are well behaved and provide good service, the officials said.
A state minister returned a transport pool car just after a week as its engine ceased to function from the very beginning.
According to sources, the Local Government and Engineering Department (LGED) buys the highest number of cars every year. It provides important government high officials with cars in related field of their work for smooth functioningofits projects. And in renim, the officials help to get prompt decisions in favour of the department.
According to sources, the top government officials always try to get appointment at the LG RD ministry to avail car facilities.
A few years back, a joint secretary at the LGRD ministry was given forced retirement for questioning the logic behind buying additional cars for the projects. The joint secretary was told by the higher authorities not to interfere with the affairs of then chief engineerofthe LGED.