Work remains incomplete, yet nearly full bill paid for water project

Allegations of irregularities, nepotism and substandard work have surfaced in a rainwater harvesting project in Barguna, yet the contractor has already received payment.

Despite remaining incomplete on the ground, one package was shown as fully completed on paper and paid in full, while 78 to 96 per cent of the bills for two other packages respectively were also cleared by the implementing agency, the Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE).

The government has been implementing a rainwater harvesting project across 10 districts to address the severe shortage of safe drinking water in the coastal belt.

In Barguna, the project, involving three packages worth nearly Tk 360 million (36 crore), has been plagued by allegations of corruption and irregularities.

On 25 October last year, Prothom Alo in its print edition published a report titled "Irregularities, nepotism in Tk 36 crore project in Barguna" detailing these issues. Despite the allegations, most of the bills were quietly paid in February this year without assessing the quality of the work or investigating the reported irregularities.

When Prothom Alo sought information regarding the payments, DPHE officials delayed the process for a long time. Eventually, after an application was filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the relevant documents were obtained on 15 March.

The documents show that a final bill of Tk 114.88 million was paid for Package No. 39. Although work under Package No. 38 was officially listed as ongoing, nearly Tk 99.8 million—about 78 per cent of the contract value of Tk 127.28 million—had already been paid.

For Package No. 40, Tk 112.16 million, or 96 per cent of the contract value of Tk 115.87 million, had been disbursed.

The 'Rainwater Harvesting System' project is being implemented in Barguna under the DPHE at a cost of Tk 360 million. Under the project, 5,542 families in three coastal upazilas are supposed to receive water tanks with a capacity of 3,000 liters. The allocation for each unit is Tk 45,000.

Barguna-based contractor M/s Kamal Enterprise was awarded all three packages. Initially scheduled to run from July 2022 to December 2025, the project’s deadline has now been extended to December of this year due to the non-completion of work.

A spot visit in September last year revealed that work in some areas was done haphazardly, while in others, it was left half-finished. A follow-up visit to the project areas in May this year found that the situation remained largely unchanged.

According to the project design, a platform is supposed to be built by excavating the designated spot, fortifying the base with sand and then laying a 10-inch cement concrete (CC) casting topped with a 5-inch brick masonry. A 3,000-liter tank is then to be placed on this platform and connected to the tin roof via a pipeline to collect rainwater.

However, visits showed that in many places only the platform had been built and left unfinished. In some locations tanks had been installed but pipelines were missing, while in others no pipeline had been installed at all.

Several beneficiaries in the villages of Chalitatoli and Falishatoli in Barguna Sadar, as well as Boro Tengra, Koralia and Chhoto Tengra in Patharghata upazila, told Prothom Alo that only the base infrastructure had been built at their homes. They reported that necessary equipment, including tanks, pipelines, and filters, had not been provided.

Evidence of incomplete and substandard work was also found during visits to several houses under package No. 39, for which the final bill has already been paid in full. For instance, at the house of Md. Ibrahim Howlader in Falishatoli village under M Baliatoli Union of the Sadar upazila, the project work is shown as ‘complete’ on paper, but in reality, it does not exist.

Multiple attempts were made to contact Kamal Hossain, the proprietor of the contracting firm M/S Kamal Enterprise, for his comments on the matter but he did not answer his phone. Later, messages were sent to his mobile and via WhatsApp, but no response was received.

A source within the DPHE revealed that Raisul Islam was serving as the Executive Engineer in Barguna when the bills were paid. He is currently stationed in Tangail.

When asked about clearing the final bill for package No. 39 despite the work being incomplete, Raisul Islam told Prothom Alo over the phone, "I cannot recall at this moment whether I cleared the final bill for package 39. The sites for all the packages are so scattered that it is difficult to specify which ones are complete and which are incomplete."

Project Director Badshah Mia confirmed the payment of the bills. "It is not supposed to happen that partial work was done for some listed beneficiaries while nothing was done for others," he said. "If we receive specific information, we will verify it and take necessary action."

Earlier, in October last year, Project Director Badshah Mia had told Prothom Alo, "I too have received allegations of irregularities, not just from Barguna but from other districts as well. I will personally visit the sites, and I will not make any concessions in ensuring the work is flawless."

Shishir Kumar Biswas, the current Executive Engineer of the DPHE in Barguna said, "Before a final bill is paid, a certificate from the beneficiary, a bank receipt for the supporting subscription and a final field-level report are mandatory. It is not possible to comment on this without verifying the documents.

He added that, if evidence of irregularities is found, action will certainly be taken.

Rafiqul Alam, divisional member of the Barishal chapter of the National Water Rights Forum, formed to ensure access to safe drinking water in coastal areas and director of the private research organisation Reach to Unreach, said those responsible for this large-scale misuse of public funds must face action and be brought under accountability.