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SUBMARINE CABLE SCAM

Minister okays action against ex-BTTB chief

STAFF CORRESPONDENT
Telecommunications Minister M Aminul Haq yesterday finally okayed departmental action against former BTTB chairman Nurul Islam, Project Director Monowar Ali and other officials for alleged irregularities in the submarine cable project.
The file containing recommended actions may be sent today for presidential approval, sources at the ministry said.
The former chairman of the state telecoms operator Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board was demoted to officer on special duty (OSD) on June 21 following a note from the Cabinet Division seeking action against the officials involved.
The Cabinet Division pressed the telecoms ministry for proper action against the officials in question, but the minister allegedly was sluggish to act and sat on the file for several weeks.
He eventually signed the file suggesting departmental action against Nurul and Monowar instead of suspending them, sources said.
The ministry did not pay heed to the Cabinet Division's letter despite repeated reminders.
In early May, the Cabinet Division after scrutinising the documents found that the chairman was responsible for manipulating the bidding for the Chittagong-Cox's Bazar optical fibre link project.
He was also found to have wasted $37 million in government funds by not taking the maintenance deal from Siemens and Huawei Technologies in the BTTB's cellphone project, sources said.
Bangladesh also had to pay an additional $37 million for after-sales service to equipment vendors Siemens and Huawei, as a section of BTTB officials including the chairman deliberately did not opt for the service when signing the equipment deal.
In the submarine cable tender, the chairman, who headed the bid evaluation committee, picked Siemens as the bid winner although it made the highest-priced offer of Tk 49.60 crore, dumping the lowest bidder Nortel which offered to do the job for Tk 33.80 crore.
Following reports in The Daily Star, the prime minister in April ordered actions against six officials accused of manipulating the bid evaluation. At the same time, the government ordered re-tendering of the project.
The BTTB chairman's shoddy role has delayed by about six months Bangladesh's access to the global information superhighway.
On April 10, the Cabinet Division in a letter conveyed the prime minister's order to the telecoms ministry and asked it to inform the cabinet purchase committee by May 15 about the actions taken against guilty officials.
If the PM's orders were complied with, four high BTTB officials and two defence officers would face departmental tribunal.
The letter quoted the PM as asking the ministry to keep the Cabinet Division updated about the progress of this unusual disciplinary action against the serving civil and military officials in a scandalous public procurement.
The telecoms ministry, however, did not take steps in this regard and instead of punishing the culprits, it focussed on the project retendering