Anisul Islam Noor :
About 112 motor vehicles, including luxury Sedans, are gathering rust on them as they were kept dumped for decades in the compound of the capital’s Khamarbari at Farm Gate. Some of the vehicles have been lying there since 1975.
Originally owned by the Ministry of Agriculture, these vehicles were once used in different projects under the ministry. They were left unattended at the Khamarbari compound after the projects were over. As years passed by, most of these vehicles have lost their utility to be used as transport vehicles and have turned into nothing but junks.
In reply to queries about the abandoned vehicles from reporters at his office recently, Director General of Khamarbari Abu Hanif Mia said that steps were taken to sell off these vehicles lying in the Khamarbari compound, but there was no headway in this regard due to the absence of a clear-cut government policy on how to sell vehicles that were used by the projects that were over. “Khamarbari authorities alone will not be able to sell these vehicles. Intervention of BRTA (Bangladesh Road Transport Authority) is needed. We have written to BRTA about this matter but we are yet to receive a reply. That is why it has not been possible to sell the vehicles,” said the DG.
If the vehicles are not sold out immediately, they will become totally useless soon,” he remarked.
While going round the Khamarbari compound this reporter found 112 Japan made Toyota all weather four wheel drives, luxury Sedans, microbuses and station wagons scattered all over the place.
The value of the abandoned vehicles would be between Tk 10 and Tk 15 crore. Khamarbari has been used as the junk-yard for the vehicles, sources at the ago-organisation said.
“According to existing rule, these vehicles are supposed to be sold out after the use. But because of personal interests of the executives of Khamarbari the selling does not take place. Some ‘car crazy’ and ‘status conscious’ officers use these vehicles for private purpose. Actually, they are the people who bring in the issue of involving BRTA for selling out the vehicles,” alleged a Khamarbari staff in a hush-hush voice.
According to competent sources, Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) bought 70 of the vehicles. After completion of the project, these vehicles were left at the disposal of Khamarbari.
Most of the vehicles are exposed to rain and shine for long. They are getting rust on them. The tyres are flat, engines out of order and bodies mangled, added the sources.
Queries revealed that many officials are responsible for the damage of the vehicles. These vehicles were also once owned by the Cotton Development Board, and the Agricultural Information Service and Marketing.
It was alleged that a section of influential and dishonest officials use these vehicles for personal purpose after getting these repaired at government expenses. But they keep those vehicles at the junkyard so that they look unusable to others.
Sources in the Ministry of Agriculture said a list of the abandoned vehicles at Khamarbari has been sent to the BRTA for disposal. Although there have been correspondences between the two organizations, no moves came forth to sell the vehicles.
The Khamarbari authorities have a set rule of expenditure up to Tk 75,000 for repairing of a car. Any expenditure above that figure has to be approved by the Ministry. Although many bills have been made for repair works, actually such repairs have never been done. Officials have pocketed the money, alleged the sources.
Maintenance officer of the Krishi Information Service Obaidul Islam said, “We have at our disposal eight land cruisers and four Yamaha motorcycles purchased with UN’s money for distribution of relief after the Liberation War in 1971.
“It is not possible to sell those due to legal complexities. As these vehicles belong to the UN, the ministry is not authorized to issue sale order for these,” he said.
About the abandoned vehicles, Shamsul Islam, an engineer of Khamarbari said, “We carefully observe the vehicles handed over to us after completion of projects. The Protocol Division decides which one will be repaired and which one will be left as abandoned. This is the work of the Protocol Division.”
When asked about the number of abandoned cars, Noor Mohammad, a senior official of the Cotton Development Board said, “We have no abandoned vehicle at Khamarbari compound.”
