Trip to manage waste or waste money?

The government recently allowed the Sylhet City Corporation (SCC) mayor to visit a factory in the US, from which SCC bought 20 vehicles for a waste management project.

The government order, issued by the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives on August 30, mentioned that Bangla Trac Limited would bear the cost of the four-day trip to the factory of Caterpillar Inc.

But this borne cost will actually come out of the prices SCC paid for the vehicles.

At a time when the government is trying to limit foreign trips of government officials to save money, this issue has raised concerns.

On top of this, SCC Chief Engineer Nur Azizur Rahman, Executive Engineer Shamsul Islam, Assistant Engineer (Electrical) Joydeb Biswas, Sub-assistant Engineer (Mechanical) Jaberul Islam, Conservancy Officer Hanifur Rahman, and a joint secretary of the ministry are awaiting government sanction for the trip.

Faruque Mahmud Chowdhury, president of Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik's (Shujan) Sylhet chapter, said, "Although cost of such trips is covered by a company, it [company] includes the cost in the price of the products it's selling. So in actuality, taxpayers' money will be spent for this trip."

"Furthermore, it doesn't make any sense for the mayor and a ministry official, who don't have the technical knowledge, to visit the factory," he said.

The trip was scheduled for August 27 to 30, but as the officials are still awaiting permission, the dates will be rescheduled, said SCC officials.

Spending Tk 17 crore for a project to modernise waste management, SCC recently purchased 15 compactor trucks, two wheel excavators, two bulldozers, and a wrecker of Caterpillar from Bangla Trac Limited.

SCC Chief Engineer Nur Azizur Rahman said, "Such purchases include visits of officials concerned. A team of four engineers, a conservancy officer and a ministry official are planning to visit the factory under supervision of the mayor."

"The purchase committee needs to evaluate the quality of the purchased vehicles. Moreover, the company is liable for operation and maintenance of the vehicles for two years. The training and experiences the engineers will obtain during the trip will help continue maintenance and operation of the vehicles after the two-year period," he said.

Contacted, Mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury said, "I may not understand the technical matters of vehicles but will understand their function. As I'll spend day and night with them [SCC staff] for inspection, the knowledge will be beneficial. Moreover, the cost of the trip will be borne by the company, not the government."

However, Tawsiful Islam, head of group brand management at Bangla Trac Limited, said, "We include the cost of such inspection trips in the prices we offer."

"We have forwarded our official invitation letter to SCC, and who to send for inspection is up to the officials. However, they have already failed to comply with the scheduled date, and the trip is uncertain now," he said.