Wednesday 23 December 2009

No mechanism to curb misuse of govt vehicles Govt spends Tk 35,000 a month on each car !!!


No mechanism to curb misuse of govt vehicles
Govt spends Tk 35,000 a month on each car
Mustafizur Rahman

The government does not have any central mechanism to check misuse of its transport, especially the vehicles under various projects, allowing many officials and employees to avail themselves of transport facilities round the clock which they are not entitled to.

An officer of the rank of joint secretary and above belongs to the ‘privileged group in the civil service and is entitled to 24-hour car facilities’ but those below the rank of joint secretary are not entitled to such facilities, said an official at the establishment ministry.

‘Those who are entitled to 24-hour car facilities are enjoying it. So there is no question of misuse of the transport under the government pool….But there is no central mechanism to oversee the use of vehicles procured under different projects,’ transport commissioner of the directorate of government transport Md Ibadat Ali told New Age on Thursday.

He said the authorities concerned were supposed to hand over the vehicles to the transport pool on completion of the projects under various ministries.
‘It is the responsibility of the authorities concerned to look after the project vehicles until they are given to the transport pool on completion of the projects,’ Ibadat, who holds the rank of an additional secretary, said in reply to a question.

Nowadays most departments and directorates do not hand over the project cars – mostly sport utility vehicles – to the government transport pool on the pretext that the project duration could be extended or that new projects were being taken, said officials.

They alleged that the departments and directorates offered the SUVs procured
under different projects to the high-ups for their personal use as they wanted to make happy the high officials close to the ministers and secretaries.

‘The authorities under different ministries and divisions offer luxury vehicles to the high officials at the ministries for personal use…It is a common practice in the administration,’ an officer said. ‘Some senior officials in this way get one vehicle from the pool and another from a department and his family uses the cars.’

Many such officials below the rank of joint secretary are using cars from various projects under different ministries, said the official adding that private secretaries to ministers and secretaries holding either the rank of deputy secretary or senior assistant secretary usually enjoyed car facilities offered by the departments and directorates under the respective ministries.

‘Some ministries have their own arrangements for providing car facilities for officials like PS, APS and PRO at the offices of the ministers.’

All these luxury cars, originally procured for project works, do not have an emblem for identification while each car or jeep of the government transport pool has a flag stand for a distinction, said a deputy director of the directorate of government transport, adding that the government cars had number plates in red till 1990.

The colour was changed into black and white at the fag end of the HM Ershad’s government to avoid the public wrath when an anti-government movement was at its peak, said the official who has been serving the transport pool for 27 years.

He said the transport pool provides a car for each minister and one microbus for use by the officials of his office.

The government has to spend around Tk 35,000 against each car for driver, fuel charge and maintenance as each official is allocated 180 liters of fuel a month, said the official.

During 1997-2009, the transport pool received around 900 motor vehicles from various projects while it has a total of 602 cars and microbuses of its own in operation, according to official record.

Meanwhile, the government has taken an initiative to procure 40 cars and 30 microbuses for its transport pool.


The Daily New Age


syed saiful alam
Central Member of Save the Environment Movement
shovan1209@yahoo.com
www.dhaka-rickshaw.blogspot.com

Sunday 20 December 2009

Climate Action Day Observed

“Change Behavior Not Climate”



Climate Action Day observed

Drawing attention on the need to reduce carbon in the atmosphere to a scientifically determined safe level of 350 ppm, the International Day of Climate Action was observed in the country yesterday.

Different social and environmental organisations held different programmes in the city and across the country to mark the day.

With the slogan of "Change Behavior, Not Climate," Work for a Better Bangladesh (WBB Trust) organised a colourful rally from National Museum to TSC of Dhaka University with participation of a large number of children from different parts of the city.

Prottyasa Madok Birodhi Sangathan, Nirapad Development Foundation, Nature Loving People (NLP), Green Voice, Swabhumi, Safe Bangladesh, and other environmental organisations, participated the rally with banners and festoons inscribed different slogans including 'Save the balance of climate and save the environment' and 'Save the coastal people'.

The rally was addressed, among others, by Ibnul Syed Rana, chairman of Nirapad Development Foundation, Syed Saiful Alam Suvan, programme officer of WBB Trust, Humaoun Kabir Somuon, Syeda Ananya Rahman, Mohammad Alamgir and Maruf Ahmed.

The speakers said that the temperatures are rising and storms are worsening due to the whimsical behaviour of human beings. Ice is melting and sea levels are rising day by day and due to the reason Bangladesh is likely to go underwater within a short peroiod, As a result, a large number of coastal people of the country will be homeless, they added.

They also said that the climate changes are going to worsen because people are burning fossil fuels - diesel, petrol, natural gas and coal - at rapid rates. So the future generations are now under threat.

They stressed on the importance of changing behaviour to balance the climate to raise attention to the 350 ppm target for reducing climate change
“Change Behavior Not Climate”



Parliament Members form human chain against global warming


Parliament Members Forum formed a human chain in Kuakata sea beach on december 09 to build awareness about climate change impacts

With the call to reduce carbon in the atmosphere to a scientifically determined safe level of 350 ppm and demanding compensation from industrial countries for being responsible for global warming, a human chain was formed at Kuakata sea beach yesterday.

Organised by Parliament Members' Forum on Climate Change (PMFCC), lawmakers Ruhul Amin Hawlader, Direndra Nath Sambhu, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Talukder Md Yunus, Narayan Chandra Chanda and Abdullah Al Islam Jakob and different upozila chairmen-vice chairmen and municipality mayors of coastal area, addressed the human chain, among others.

The speakers said that climate changes are going to worsen and the future generations are now under threat. Bangladesh is one of the most vulnerable countries due to impact of climate change, they added.

They also said that the temperatures are rising and storms are worsening due to the whimsical behaviour of human beings. Ice is melting and sea levels are rising day by day and due to this reason Bangladesh is likely to go underwater within a short period. As a result, a large number of coastal people of the country will be homeless, they added.

They stressed on the importance of changing the behaviour of the responsible countries for reducing climate change.

PMFCC Convener and whip of Parliament ASM Firoz MP presided over the programme while it was attended, among others, by chairman of Save the Environment Movement Abu Naser Khan, Kazi Enayet Hossain, Rajib Parvez and Syed Saiful Alam.

“Change Behavior Not Climate”