DHAKA: The state minister’s interest in acquiring knowledge on Rajuk’s Purbachal Project is not over though the project duration came to an end. State minister for housing and public works Abdul Mannan Khan is out on a ‘learning trip’ with his team to gather detailed knowledge of how to shape up Purbachal project.

New York, Los Angeles and Miami of the United States, Toronto of Canada and Britain are reportedly among the stops on the team’s treks.

The Rajuk Chairman and three others will join the state minister Sunday. State minister’s son is joining his parents in Canada as he failed to get the US visa, according to a report published in a daily. Ministry sources were quoted as saying that Rajuk’s expenditure may exceed one crore Taka for this trip.

Such a trip by the state minister towards the end of the project raised questions at the ministry. The personnel concerned said that no knowledge acquired by the state minister or his team at this stage would come to any use of Purbachal project since the map for this project as well as infrastructural development are already in progress. Now the state minister cannot bring any change to the project even if he wants to. They also said that, at this stage, focus should be on road construction and plot distribution.

A joint secretary-level officer, who wishes to be anonymous, told the reporters that previously the state minister had traveled overseas with his selected ‘syndicate’ with Rajuk’s Uttara project funds. There were no rooms for modification in that specific project as well.

An officer with the Purbachal project commented, on condition that he not be quoted by name, that the state minister may travel to a few hundred cities now yet will not be able to make any difference on Purbachal project. He also said the project is being pushed for extension. Some officials are always trying to gain advantage by extending the project deadlines.

Officials concerned are naming the state minister’s overseas travel as ‘pleasure trip’ and saying, ‘State minister and his team are misusing the public money for his personal pleasure’.

Ministry sources also say that the state minister, Mannan Khan, has traveled to eight different countries so far since he was appointed to ‘acquire knowledge’ squandering government money. No big changes were seen in those projects.

Information at the ministry shows that there is another ‘learning trip’ scheduled after this one.   A proposal is already sent to the Prime Minister’s office in the name of apartment development for the housing authority.

When asked about the new trip, Rajuk Chairman Nurul Huda told the reporters on Saturday night that he is leaving for New York along with three others on a ‘learning trip’ on July 4th under the Purbachal project. There he will visit New York, Los Angeles and Miami along with the state minister. Afterwards, the team would visit Toronto of Canada and London.

When Nurul Huda was asked about the merit of such a trip, he said, “We shall learn how the new cities of those countries are developed.”

He was also asked if this ‘learning trip’ would benefit the Purbachal project at all. He did not go for a direct answer and said each project conducts a ‘learning trip’ from the ministry. He also said that previously he had participated in many ‘learning trips’ from different projects.

Answering to a question as to how such trip is organized when the project deadline was June 30, he said that the project work is still in progress and the timeline would be extended.

Purbachal project includes 14,000 plots of Narayanganj, Rupganj and Kaliganj areas. Money was received from 8000 people.

Ministry sources say that the plots were supposed to have been handed over three years ago. After the present government came to power, state minister Mannan Khan at different times said that the plots would be distributed by June 30 this year. Government could not distribute the plots in 2007, as scheduled. The last caretaker government extended the time to June 30 this year.

The sources said the state minister for housing and public works and his wife left Dhaka on June 29 at around 1 am on EK 585 Biman flight to first attend Fobana Conference in New York. After the conference, he will visit three countries to acquire knowledge for the project. They are supposed to return to Dhaka on July 22 at 7:55pm, according to the newspaper report.

BDST: 1455 HRS, JULY 3, 2010