The Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) has invited a tender for the dismantling and uprooting of 413 lampposts from Rampura Bridge to Kuril Intersection in the capital as part of a Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) water pipeline installation project.

Dhaka WASA has reportedly paid the city corporation more than Tk9 crore for the work.

However, an investigation by the Media found that the majority of the lampposts had already disappeared despite their existence in the DNCC tender.

The uprooted poles were found stacked in front of the DNCC’s Mohakhali zonal office.

A deeper investigation revealed that a company named SS Rahman International Ltd had dismantled the lampposts and installed new ones at several points along the road after receiving assurances from senior DNCC officials that it would be awarded the contract.

On Thursday, the DNCC invited the tender for the fourth time, allegedly to award the work to SS Rahman International, which had reportedly failed to meet the eligibility criteria during the previous bidding rounds.

When contacted, Md Salahuddin, proprietor of SS Rahman International, and DNCC Executive Engineer (additional charge) Md Saiful Islam, who convened the tender, admitted that the work had been carried out through mutual understanding.

Saiful said, “Some poles were removed with support from our zone, and some were removed with financial assistance from Salahuddin. But I would repay him whether or not he gets the tender.”

However, he denied asking Salahuddin to uproot the lampposts, adding, “He might have received the assurance from somewhere else.”

When asked, Salahuddin said he had been promised the contract by a former chief engineer of the DNCC as part of a settlement over a dispute related to a tender for the installation of decorative poles.

The Media repeatedly called the accused former chief engineer and the DNCC administrator for comment, but neither could be reached.

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