Photo : Collected
The mafia of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) and Roads and Highways Department (RHD), former Law Minister Anisul Haque's family owned the company called Computer Network Systems (CNS) Limited.
Founded by Anisul Haque's younger brother Ariful Haque Roni, this CNS company has taken various tenders in the last decade by influencing the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges by utilizing the name of the Law Minister. CNS has won almost all the tenders called by BRTA. This information is known from BRTA and RHD sources.
According to sources, the company embezzled hundreds of crores of rupees from the government with comparatively higher prices without any competition in various tenders Direct Procurement Method (DPM). This organization has been holding RHD officials hostage for more than a century and carrying out various fraudulent activities.
According to the sources concerned, certain conditions have been included in each tender, as a result of which no organization other than CNS has a chance to get the job. As a result, vehicle owners and drivers have to take their services at higher prices.
Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) said that BRTA has many qualified institutions in Bangladesh to conduct the tasks. Almost all of their 1,600 members are qualified to do such work. But many are discouraged because of the undesirable conditions. Every tender includes certain conditions that prevent any organization other than CNS from getting the job.
Sources in the Ministry of Road Transport said that in a decade, the business volume of CNS from BRTA stood at around Tk 650 crore. Apart from this, there is a work of providing driver's smart card license worth Tk 120 crore.
Currently CNS is working on five BRTA projects. Monir Uz Zaman, MD, CNS, travels between Bangladesh and the United States.
According to BRTA sources, two of the services that the organization is taking from outside are provided by the Army's Machine Tools Factory. These are installation of digital vehicle number plates and vehicle owner's digital registration card or smart card. As the machine tools factory is a government institution, they did not have to participate in the tender. However, all the works awarded through tenders have been awarded to CNS.
Sources in the Ministry of Road Transport said that a section of the officials of the Ministry of Road Transport and BRTA worked behind giving exclusive work to CNS. They add conditions that favor the CNS. Every time tenders are requested upon Quality and Cost Based Service (QCBS) system. At first, the contestants were thrown into the trap of conditions.
An attempt was made to contact Gautam Chandra Pal, Chairman (Additional Sectary) BRTA on mobile phone to know the whole matter. But the mobile phone number is found to be closed. After that Mohammad Kamrul Islam Chowdhury, Director’s phone number was tried several times. But he did not receive the phone.
And since the former law minister was in jail, it was not possible to get his comments on the matter. However, CNS Limited Senior Executive Director Major Ziaul Ahsan told The Daily Messenger that Anisul Haque sir's brother was the chairman of the company at one time but no longer. But why the opportunity was not taken by using the name of the former law minister.
And the burden of this corruption falls on the shoulders of the people in the final judgment. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the road transport ministry or the government and take action against the responsible persons.
According to sources, CNS Limited was earlier contracted with RHD, Dhaka Zone as toll operator of Meghna and Meghna-Gomti Bridge for 7 (seven) years prior to August 2022. The work was forced to pay 23 percent of the toll collected for operation and management through Single Source Selection (SSS) without any competition. Later contracts with other operators cost only 4 percent of the collected tolls. Thus, for 7 (seven) years, the said company embezzled about 23 percent of Meghna and Meghna-Gomti tolls (500 crores).
According to sources, the contract was completed almost two years ago, but the completion certificate has not been issued so far. The special reason for not issuing the Completion Certificate is that the company could not complete all the Obligations or Deliverables in accordance with the contract. Consequently, the contract expires with some Milestones or Deliverables unfinished. Which is included in Breach of Contract or fraudulent practice according to the terms of the contract.
Regarding the matter, Major Ziaul Ahsan said, after the toll work of Muktarpur Bridge, our company was assigned the work of Meghna Gomti Bridge. Last year I paid taka 3 thousand crores from this toll plaza. The allegations leveled against us are completely false. The tolls that we have taken responsibility for are now charging three times the tolls.
There are allegations against the company that BRTA, Dhaka has also abused its power by taking the Direct Procurement Method (DPM) Vehicle Inspection System work at a monopoly price without any competition which is still going on.
Jamuna Bridge Toll Collection and Operation of BBA has also been operating on Direct Procurement Method (DPM) since 2015 at exclusive contract price for almost 2 years. Subsequently, a case was filed against the ongoing Tender Evaluation Committee. Which keeps the case pending for years due to the influence of the law minister.
And they are forced to use the established Software Hardware Rental Basis. Which is out of the rules. Thus the case has been going on for about 7 (seven) years and BBA has to pay every month for Software Hardware rental.
Subsequently, the amount of Operation and Management contract paid to CNS is almost the same as the software hardware rental price.
When the term of the contract for the toll operation of Bhairav Setu expired about a year ago, RHD entered into a contract with CNS Limited for a period of two years, but the Completion Certificate for the previous period was not provided.
The special reason for not issuing the Completion Certificate is that the company could not complete all the Obligations or Deliverables in accordance with the contract. That is, the contract expires with some Milestones or Deliverables unfinished. Which is included in Breach of Contract or fraudulent practice according to the terms of the contract.
Around the same time, a similar incident happened in Shaheed Moezuddin Setu, Ghorashal. When the term of the toll operation contract of the said bridge expired about a year ago, the contract was renewed between RHD and CNS Limited for a period of two years, but the Completion Certificate of the previous period was not provided all over again.
The special reason for not issuing the Completion Certificate is that the company could not complete all the Obligations or Deliverables in accordance with the contract. That is, the contract expires with some Milestones or Deliverables unfinished. This, in accordance with the terms of the contract, is regarded as a breach of contract or fraudulent practice.
The company entered into an agreement to develop MIS, RHD 4 Unified Software. Although the contract period expired almost a year ago, the contract period has not been extended. In addition, some important deliverables-milestones are delayed. If any Deliverables-Milestone contract cannot be completed within the contract period as per PPR 2008, we consider it lawful to terminate the contract in accordance with the relevant rules.
In such a situation, the request to the relevant authorities including the Tender Evaluation Committee is that, by analyzing the data of their unwanted activities in the past years of this type of organization, I demand strong evaluation according to PPR 2008. This organization has been carrying out various fraudulent activities by holding RHD officials hostage for the past few years.
Messenger/Disha
