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18 August, 2011
The Financial Express
The Public-Private Stakeholders Committee (PPSC) on public procurement Wednesday stressed involvement of the relevant stakeholders in improving the road network in the country.
The committee members underscored the need for community involvement in assessing the needs for public works to check wastage of scarce public money.
The Roads and Highways Department, Bangladesh Water Development Board and LGED made three presentations on their procurement activities. They also made suggestions on how and where citizen engagement can be effective.
The fifth meeting of the PPSC comprising representatives from both the public and the private sectors was held in the city with Planning Minister Air-Vice Marshal (retd) AK Khandker in the chair.
The 27-member PPSC was formed in 2009 under PPRP-2 with support from World Bank to devise a mechanism for engaging citizens in the process of public procurement and submit a recommendation to the government for ensuring transparency and quality in procuring goods, works and services by the government entities.
Representatives from the Transparency International Bangladesh, BRAC, FBCCI, Dhaka University, Dhaka Reporters’ Unity, Bangladesh Association of Consulting Engineers (BACE), Bangladesh Association of Construction Industries (BACI), LGED, Rural Electrification Board, Bangladesh Water Development Board, Roads and Highways Department, Bangladesh Power Development Board, ERD and Foreign Aided Project Audit Department attended the meeting.
The planning minister said engagement of citizens in procurement in many cases can be useful and ensure the quality of works. The PPSC will make a recommendation on this through a strategy to the government, he added.
Planning Division Secretary Monzur Hossain, IME Division Secretary Habib Ullah Majumder and Director General of Central Procurement Technical Unit Amulya Kumar Debnath also spoke on the occasion.
The Institute of Governance Studies of BRAC University provides technical and expert support to the PPSC. The IGS facilitated the meeting. |
