Ministry Asked to Take Action against CAAB Officials for Irregularities

The Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism (MCAT) has been asked to take departmental actions against the officials of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) responsible for their gross irregularities in two airport development projects.

The directive came from a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) on Wednesday, presided over by Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal.

The Cabinet body approved two separate proposals of the MCAT to cancel the tender process that was invited to award contracts for the two projects. The MCAT placed the proposal in the committee meeting as it found irregularities in the process.

The committee also asked the ministry to start a process to invite re-tender for the two projects.

The projects are—Asphalt concrete overlaying on the runway surfaces of the Jessore, Syedpur and Shah Makhdum airports—and appointment of the consultant for Cox’s Bazar Airport Development (phase-2) project.

After the Cabinet body meeting, Sabirul Islam, additional secretary of the Cabinet Division, informed reporters about the decision of the committee.

He said the committee approved the MCAT’s proposal to cancel the tender process of the two projects and asked the ministry to identify the officials involved in the irregularities in the tender process.

Sabirul said the persons will be liable for their misdeeds as a tender invitation and approval process takes a huge time to proceed.

“A  fresh process means wastage of time. So, for wastage of time, the committee asked the concerned ministry to identify the persons responsible and punish them,” he added.