Tk 1.67b sought to buy 324 vehicles for transport pool

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Yasir Wardad The Directorate of Government Transport has sought Tk 1.67 billion to add 324 different kinds of new vehicles to its transport pool, officials said. "The directorate had sought Tk 1.67 billion from the government last month to buy vehicles for work during natural disasters in the disaster-hit areas, monitoring law and order, public exam, voting and different govt administrative works," a high official of the directorate told the FE. He said: "Now, nearly 270 different types of vehicles in the government transport directorate have been lying out of order while another 111 would be placed for auction in a few days." The official said that the directorate has now a total of 975 jeeps and 597 cars in its convoy. "The date-barred cars and jeeps are creating transportation problems. As such, the department is thinking of replacing those with new ones," he said. "Now, the directorate is seeking to buy 64 jeeps and the same number of cars, pick-up vans and motorcycles for all the deputy commissioners' (DC) offices in the country which would cost Tk 1.45 billion," he said. According to the official, another allocation for 45 micro-buses for the Prime Minister's advisers, minister's offices and state minister's offices have been sought. The directorate has sought Tk 31.2 million to buy seven cars and the same number of motor-bikes for the seven divisional commissioners. He said about 272 jeeps were bought between 1987 and 1997 period the longevity of which would also expire soon. The directorate has to place these vehicles in auction and buy new ones in near future for the administration, he said. The official seeking anonymity said, "the directorate also lacks sufficient number of drivers". "Shortage of drivers is a daily routine in the administration; every official wants to keep senior and experienced drivers, which creates problems". He said: "the department is also thinking of increasing the number of drivers". He said that the office had bought 64 microbuses and 140 jeeps in fiscal year (FY) 2010-11 while it sold 90 vehicles for Tk 18.15 million. This year the office has listed 111 vehicles which would be sold out through tender in a few days, he added. According to the Directorate of Government Transports, the total budget for purchasing the vehicles was made following recommendation of a committee that was formed in August this year to scrutinise the current market price.