Artworks on the pillars and space below the Moghbazar flyover have been drawing public applause but they could have been more beautiful if the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) followed procurement rules, allowing transparency, open competition and maximum utilisation of public funds for the work.

In the background of the beautiful work, an ugly game was played with artists and aspiring contractors as a tender for the decoration work was apparently invited eight months after completing it.

Sources said the DNCC got the work done without any tender and through a company linked to an influential officer of the city corporation in violation of all rules and regulations related to procurement of a service through a contractor.

All was done hurriedly and without following legal procedures to benefit the company  but the work could be done in a more transparent manner and without defrauding bidders, said sources at the DNCC adding that at least two more procurement were made this time last year.

According to the DNCC’s website, the tender no 920581 for street art work of Moghbazar Flyover under the jurisdiction of DNCC ward-35 was floated on 12 December 2023.

DNCC issued the  notification of award regarding the tender to a company named Alif Trader based at North Wing Ridge Ahmed Square, 50/1, 11th Floor, Inner Circular (VIP) Road, Nayapaltan, Dhaka.

Only one company participated in the tender involving around Tk54 lakh for painting graffiti on 12 pillars of the flyover from Moghbazar intersection to Satrasta before its closing date on 28 December 2023.

No other company bid for the work because it was already done in April 2023, more than eight months before floating the tender, which means the tender notice was a mockery of the bidding process, sources said.

Ironically the proposed date of starting the painting work was 18 January 2024 while the proposed date of ending the work was on 15 February 2024.  The contract was signed on 17 January 2024, according to the relevant document.

Private company bKash is financially supporting the artwork under the flyover, according to sources.

A DNCC official said the tender was floated because the contractor could not be paid without any official work order and other procurement procedures mentioned in public procurement act 2006 and rules of 2008.

According to the DNCC, Mayor Atiqul Islam inaugurated the street art work on 10 April 2023, which was a widely publicised event.

Asked why the work was not done in a transparent manner, executive engineer of zone-3 Faruque Hassan Md Al Masud, who invited the tender, told the Daily Sun that it was not done following proper procedure but refused to make any further comment regarding it.

An official of DNCC wishing anonymity said that the engineer had nothing to do with it as he just carried out the order of the top brass of the corporation.

DNCC Mayor Atiqul Islam could not be contacted for comments regarding the matter despite repeated calls and text messages.

Chairperson of Transparency International Bangladesh Sultana Kamal said if the work was done in the way the relevant sources said, then it was a serious corruption.

“If it is true, it is unwanted and unacceptable.  The prime minister and the president have said the biggest challenge ahead of them is corruption. I hope they will investigate the allegation and take required steps to prevent corruption if any violations are found,” Sultana Kamal told the Daily Sun.