A development project proposal on setting up Chattogram Medical University was rife with mistakes and inconsistencies.
The minutes of a meeting of the Planning Commission held on September 2 suggest that the health education and family welfare division under the health ministry submitted the development project proposal (DPP).
In the DPP it quoted a pair of sterile hand gloves at a staggering Tk 35,000 against its actual price of Tk 20-50.
Even it quoted the price of a two-tonne air conditioner at Tk 16,673, though the actual price ranges from Tk 80,000 to Tk 125,000.
A total of 1,050 ACs were mistakenly quoted at only Tk 11.7 million instead of the estimated Tk 105 million.
On the other hand, the meeting minutes show the projected price of an identical item was quoted differently in three places.
The price of a scanning electron microscope was quoted on page 64 at Tk 150,000. The price of four such machines was quoted at Tk 0.6 million.
The same device has been quoted at Tk 75 million each on page 70, thus putting the total cost at Tk 300 million for four machines.
The price of the same was again quoted at Tk 50 million on page 115.
There are inconsistencies in the prices of furniture also.
The price of a same piece of furniture was quoted differently on different pages while the number of furniture is not consistent.
Even the same furniture is shown both in 'furniture' and 'machinery' categories.
The same type of equipment was proposed on pages 127 to 143.
The university sought 1,050 water filters, 1,050 reverse osmosis filters, 1,050 desktop computers, 1,050 laptops and 1,050 printers.
It also sought Tk 257 million in block allocation for a research cell and Tk 975 million for research laboratory equipment.
In the wake of the mistakes, the division in a clarification on Friday claimed that the draft DPP was prepared by the outsourcing firm 'Future IT and Global Service'.
Then the university authorities reviewed the proposal before sending it to the health ministry, the division said. But the mistakes somehow escaped all eyes.
"As there was a proposal to purchase as many as 5,534 items in the DPP, the Planning Commission in the meeting on September 02 sent back it for restructuring because of the abnormally high or low prices found there.
The health education division decided to restructure the DPP in its meeting on October 03," the clarification read.
Regarding inaccuracies, the division said the officials concerned who reviewed the proposal failed to notice the abnormal prices of some items.
The division thanked the commission for detecting these errors.
"As no tender process has been completed on the basis of the unapproved development project proposal, there is no scope for corruption," it said.
The authorities would take action, if there was any intentional negligence of any official of the university or the ministry behind the mistakes, the statement said.
When contacted, TIB executive director Iftekharuzzaman said the clarification was naive and unacceptable.
The mistakes attested to the gross lack of oversight and scrutiny in every stage of the whole process involved, he told the FE.
Moreover, there arose a question as to whether such "mistakes" could happen unintentionally, Mr Zaman said.
"The clarifications as well as the act itself can be treated as examples of connivance of a section of those wielding power in abuse of power."
"The episode confirms gross deficits of compliance and sheer absence of internal control and checks and balances in project design, planning and approval," Mr Zaman went on to say.
It is also a syndrome of a deeper malaise that converted publicly-funded projects into a licence for self-enrichment through a triangular collusion of business, politics and bureaucracy.
This ultimate burden is passed on to taxpayers, Mr Zaman concluded.
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