Report on Anomalies: CCC probes info leak

The Chittagong Chemical Complex (CCC) authorities have formed a probe committee to find out how information regarding a Tk 115 crore project to restart the country's lone state-owned chemical factory was leaked to the media.

CCC Managing Director (MD) Bidyut Kumar Biswas formed the three-member committee following directives from top officials of Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC), CCC's supervisory authority.

The move came after The Daily Star published a report on the project on January 22 headlined “Irregularities aplenty”, sources at the CCC and the BCIC said.

The factory was supposed to resume operation in 14 months but 45 months have gone by and yet it is still not operational.

The CCC in Sitakunda has been incurring Tk 16 lakh in production loss every day because a Chinese firm failed to complete the job.

Surprisingly, neither the CCC nor the BCIC is probing as to why the factory could not start operation although Chinese contractor Wuhan Anyang Science & Technology Co Ltd (WASTCL) got several time extensions to complete the job.

A senior official said the committee, led by Additional Chief Engineer (chemical) Sen Shukhen Chandra, would enquire its officials how the media, particularly The Daily Star, got hold of the information and official documents on the project.

The other committee members are Head of Accounts Md Shamimul Ahsan and Deputy Manager (admin) Shamsul Alam.

The CCC issued letters to the committee members outlining their job, added the official requesting not to be named, fearing departmental actions.

The committee was formed despite BCIC Chairman Mohammad Iqbal's directive to the CCC managing director to provide journalists all relevant information regarding the project for the interest of the country.

The Daily Star correspondent was in Iqbal's office when he phoned the CCC MD to give him the instructions.

Contacted on Thursday, the CCC MD declined to offer details on the probe committee. 

“We are public servants and we have to go through certain procedures,” he said about the formation of the probe committee.

Some officials and staffers of the BCIC and the CCC now fear reprisal from the authorities. Sources claimed that the authorities were trying to conceal facts and protect the people responsible for delaying the project.

Chief Information Commissioner Prof Golam Rahman believes forming such a probe committee to single out officials was highly unprofessional.

“It seems the authorities are trying to hide something about the project which is very annoying. If the Chittagong Chemical Complex has anything to say or contradict the report, it should say it to the media,” he told this paper on Thursday.