The communications ministry on Thursday asked the roads division to terminate the contract won by Intraco BD Associates Ltd for converting two sections the Joydevpur-Mymensingh Highway into four lanes by submitting forged documents of joint venture with a Chinese company.
Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain asked the roads division secretary, in a letter, to initiate other actions as well against Intraco.
He also asked for initiating steps for forfeiting the company's performance guarantee deposit and recovering advance payments made to it.
He asked the roads division secretary to initiate an inquiry to find out why proper scrutiny was not done during the tender evaluation process as well as before signing the contract with the company in January, 2011.
The company was awarded the contract to convert into four lanes 12.65 km of the highway from Joydevpur to Rajedrapur and another 17.60 km stretch from Rajendrapur to Maona at a cost of Tk 329 crore.
In the letter, Abul Hossain also asked the secretary for issuing directives to the roads and highways department for filing a criminal case against Intraco BD Associates and for taking other punitive actions for forgery under the public procurement rules of 2008.
He issued the order after a newspaper reported about the company forging documents of HRBC, a Chinese international construction company, to get the contract.
HRBC had complained to the ministry the forgery.
Following the complaint the ministry found that Intraco BD Associates had submitted fake documents of joint venture agreement and power of attorney of HRBC by forging the signatures of legal representatives and managing director of the Chinese company to get the contract, officials said.
They said that the ministry initiated the action as its senior officials, while visiting the sites in May, found no representative of the Chinese company there.
Following the complaint from HRBC a two-member investigation team of the roads and highways department visited its head office in China from June 10 to 13, 2011.
The Chinese company told the team that it did not bid for the tender.
Source : New Age
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