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Tk 8.4 Crore Project in Khagrachhari

Misappropriation of fund alleged

Jasim Maiumdeb, Khagrachhari
Misappropriation of government fund by a contractor with the help of a section of officials at Chittagong HillTYacts Development Board (CHTB) put the work of Tk 8.4 crore road construction project into uncertainty.
The indigenous people of Bel tali Para, Jurmoron and Khabangpuya under Sadar upazila alleged that contractor Mohammad Selim, also the district Jubo Dal vice president, misappropriated major portion of the fund with the help of a section of CHTDB officials.
CHTDB sources said Tk 8.4 crore project was taken to construct a road, including six bridges, from Khagrachhari Parjatan Motel to Jurmorom Surendra Masterpara in 2005 during the BNP-led four-party alliance government.
If the road is constructed over one lakh people of some 25 remote indigenous villages will be benefited of proper communication facilities, sources said.
It is alleged that Selim
got the work using the influence of his political mentor and former CHTDB Chairman Abdul Wadud Bhuiyan. Selim could not complete the work in three years of schedule ending December, 2008 yet he had no problem to withdraw most of the project money. An official, on condition of anonymity, said Selim has withdrawn Tk 2.5 crore of the project money so far.
Selim, however, constructed only one of the six bridges ovet a small canal at a jungle near Beltalipara where there is no connecting road on both the sides of the bridge.
Arun Tripura, a villager of Beltalipara, told The Daily Star that they didn't kriow the utility of a bridge at such a remote place. "The bridge would not benefit the people," he said.
An engineer of CHTDB on condition of anonymity said many such projects were designed for some remote CHT areas at their office without any study whether those would be viable or not.
Sub-Assistant Engineer Mohammad Abu Taher at CHTDB Khagrachhari
office, also supervisor of the project, could not confirm about the project cost and actual allocation. He said it might be Tk. 6 or Tk 7 crore project.
Taher, reportedly a close aide to Selim, told this correspondent that the ministry concerned held up the work for fund constraint. He said a major portion of the work has been completed. The remaining work would start after the fund is released by the ministry, he added.
When asked about how the contractor could withdraw' most of the project money, Taher said the bills were paid with the permission of the officials but refused to disclose their names.
Contractor Selim said he constructed 3.5 kilometre of the 16 kilometre road with bricks and withdrew only Tk. 1.8 crore.
He said people of the project area don't want to give their land for road construction while cadres of regional political party UPDF used to demand toll from him. For these reasons, he could not complete the construction work, he said.