School buildings demolished and materials sold without tender, allegations raised
Photo: Agamir Somoy
Allegations have emerged that two semi-pucca buildings of a government primary school in Alfadanga, Faridpur, were demolished and their materials sold without any auction or tender process.
Acting Headteacher of Tita Panail Char Government Primary School Enamul Haque Khan has been accused of irregularities in the matter.
According to local sources, various materials, including tin sheets and bricks from the school’s two semi-pucca tin-shed buildings, were sold without following government regulations. No public notice was issued and no procedure was followed to assess the value of the materials.
The acting headteacher allegedly sold the valuable materials at nominal prices. Buyers have been demolishing the two buildings and removing the materials for the past week.
A visit to the site on Friday morning confirmed the incident. It was found that the entire structure of one of the buildings had been demolished. Its bricks were being transported elsewhere on a Nosimon vehicle. The tin roof and walls of the other building had also been removed.
During the visit, Harekrishna Mondal of Shikarpur village, who was engaged in breaking the bricks, said he had purchased the bricks from Acting Headteacher Enamul Haque Khan for only Tk 15,000. He has been breaking the bricks and taking them to his home for the past three days.
Muslima Begum, president of the school management committee, expressed surprise over the matter and said, “I know nothing about this.”
When asked about the allegations, Acting Headteacher Enamul Haque Khan initially refused to comment. He later said, “We intended to put the buildings up for tender, but no tender was issued later. I sold the tin sheets from the buildings to a scrap dealer for Tk 2,500. I used the money from the sale to plant areca nut trees at the school.”
Several attempts were made to contact Acting Upazila Primary Education Officer Md Sarwar Hossain by phone for comment, but he did not answer. He also did not respond to a text message sent via WhatsApp.
However, Alfadanga Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md Zubayer Habib said, “The matter will be investigated with utmost seriousness and necessary action will be taken promptly.”
