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JCD cadres rule tender

Force intending bidders to a negotiation at secretariat

Staff Correspondent
A group of ruling party cadres from Jamalpur and Netrakona yesterday barred others from dropping tenders at the jute ministry in Dhaka for purchasing land and property of the now-defunct Bangladesh Jute Corporation (BJC) in those districts.
Around 25 cadres stood guard in the corridor and in front of the secretariat room where the tender box was kept. They stayed there until the time for dropping tender ended.
They created pressure on the intending bidders to negotiate with them and reach an understanding on the price so that they can buy the government property at lower prices.
Some of the cadres even called intending bidders to other rooms SEE PAGE 15 COL 4 FROM PAGE 1
and threatened of dire consequence if they did not agree to reach an understanding with them.
Abdul Bari Danny, a former central committee leader of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal and now assistant literature and publication secretary of Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal led the cadres.
Private secretary of Rashiduz-zaman Millat MP and General Secretary of Islampur upazila BNP Bipul Lohani played an active role to make the negotiation. Dany has close contact with State Minister for Home Lutfozzaman Babar, sources said.
The Daily Star correspondent saw Danny threatening an intending bidder with dire consequence for a possible disagreement with their terms.
An elderly man, who dropped the tender before the cadres had arrived, was called by the cadres to a nearby room and threatened. The man from AHB Fibre Limited said he did not know about the participation of the ruling party men in the tender bidding.
When this correspondent approached him to talk, he immediately left the place, giving a frightening look.
This correspondent also heard cadres threatening the intending bidders in the name of Shamim Talukder, a nephew of late Abdus Salam Talukder, former general secretary of ruling BNP. Shamim, chairman of Sharishabari Pourashava, was also present there.
Six policemen were present inside the room but they did not pay attention to the tension outside.
But when a mid-ranking leftist leader hailing from Jamalpur district along with Mohan Raihan, a poet, came to drop the offer ignoring the threat, the cadres allowed them to drop tender.
Asked, the cadres denied the allegation of barring others from dropping tender.
Rashiduzzaman Millat MP also participated in the tender on behalf of a company named Sourav Trading. Millat while talking to The Daily Star last night admitted that there was an attempt to reach an understanding on the tenders. But that attempt was foiled as some others participated in the tender ignoring the move for understanding.
He claimed that such understanding takes place in this type of tenders all over the world. He, however, denied creating any pressure on the intending bidders by his men.
When the officials opened the tender box, they found only a few tender bids. They were surprised to observe the small number of offers -- only three to five in each group.
The leftist leader, who did not want to be named, was the highest bidder in a group. He told The Daily Star that the cadres did not dare to block him because they know his local and national level political connection.
Still, he is doubtful whether he would finally be able to win the bid as the ministry has other mechanism to reject a bidder who is not like-minded, he observed.
The company belonging to Rashiduzzaman stood second highest bidder in another group. He claimed that he offered more price than the estimated value of the land and property.
Golam Mustakim, a joint secretary of the jute ministry who opened the tender box said they will take the final decision later in the evaluation committee.
The government called tender for selling land and property of the BJC in districts as part of privatisation of public sector enterprises. A section of ruling party stalwarts are buying those land and property at very low prices.
For example, only two offers were received for a BJC godown at Motkhola on 2.83 acres of land. The highest bidder offered only Tk 23.10 lakh for the property.