Chain dozers, more commonly known as crawler bulldozers, are used for various purposes in Bangladesh. Four officials from the Local Government Division and Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) recently received government approval to travel abroad to attend training on operating and maintaining two such bulldozers. The supplier, Sohel Engineering & Construction Ltd., will bear all trip expenses.
Four more government officials have recently been approved to travel to China to attend training on the operation and maintenance of equipment under a project of the Department of Public Health Engineering. In this case too, the supplier, Green Dot Ltd, will bear the travel expenses. Despite government directives to avoid overseas trips funded by contractors and suppliers, such trips are still being approved.
A government order (GO) on the overseas trip was issued on September 6, signed by Local Government Division Joint Secretary Md Rabiul Islam. Under the order, a five-day trip to China was approved for Ashraful Islam Faisal, information and public relations officer to the State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam; DNCC Chief Accounts Officer Md Barkat Hayat; DNCC Executive Engineer of the Mechanical Circle Maksud Alam; and DNCC Assistant Chief Waste Management Officer Md Asadul Islam.
The four government officials have been approved to travel abroad to attend training on the operation and maintenance of two chain dozers (bulldozers). The trip will be considered part of their official duties.
When contacted yesterday for comment on the trip, DNCC Executive Engineer of the Mechanical Circle, Maksud Alam, hung up after hearing the subject. Repeated attempts to contact him afterwards went unanswered.
Sohel Engineering and Construction Ltd, a Bangladeshi company, supplies equipment to various government departments and agencies. In November last year, three government officials were approved to travel to the United States at the company’s expense to receive training on operating and maintaining wheel dozers and visit a factory. They were Mymensingh City Corporation Secretary Sumona Al Mojid, Local Government Division Deputy Secretary Md Firoz Mahmud, and Md Rafiqul Islam Mia, project director of the Development of Road and Drainage Network with Citizen Service of Mymensingh City Corporation project.
Earlier, in September last year, three officials from the Local Government Division and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) were approved to travel to China for operation and maintenance training before the purchase of five chain dozers. The manufacturers, Sinoway Industrial (Shanghai) Co Ltd and HTMS, bore all expenses for their trip.
A BDT 5.59 billion Integrated Sanitation & Hygiene (Integrated Solid and Human Waste Management) project is being implemented in 10 priority towns under the Department of Public Health Engineering. Funded by the Bangladesh government and the Islamic Development Bank, the project includes training on the operation and maintenance of discharging equipment. Four officials have been approved to travel to China from September 20 to 24 to attend the training — Local Government Division Joint Secretary Md Anwar Imam, Project Director SM Shamim Ahmed, Department of Public Health Engineering Executive Engineer Muhammad Samiul Haque and Md Shamim Anwar.
The approval was given in an order signed by Local Government Division Deputy Secretary Dr Ashfiqun Nahar on September 9. The order states that the trip will be considered part of their official duties and that all expenses will be borne by the supplier, Green Dot Ltd.
Asked about the overseas trip, Local Government Division Joint Secretary Md Anwar Imam told Bonik Barta, “The ministry was requested to send an appropriate representative for the trip, and I was nominated as the ministry’s representative. I don’t know anything beyond that.”
He referred Bonik Barta to Project Director SM Shamim Ahmed for further details.
Asked why supplier Green Dot Ltd was financing the overseas trip, Department of Public Health Engineering Project Director SM Shamim Ahmed told Bonik Barta, “The company is the supplier of specific discharging equipment for the project. According to the tender documents, the supplier is required to bear the costs of training and related expenses necessary for the operation and maintenance of the equipment. Although the donor is financing the purchase of the equipment under this donor-funded project, the government doesn’t have to provide any separate funding for operation and maintenance-related expenses. The terms of reference specify these as the supplier’s own expenses. So the supplier is also supposed to bear the cost of taking officials to the manufacturing country for training.”
The Climate and Disaster Resilient Small-Scale Water Resources Management Project (CDRSSWRMP) is being implemented with joint funding from the Asian Development Bank, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the government of the Netherlands. The Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), under the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, is implementing the project. In July this year, six officials from the ministry and LGED were approved to travel abroad to attend operation and maintenance training under the project. Supplier M/s Sarker Kabir Ahamed financed the overseas trip.
During the tenure of the previous interim government, the then Chief Adviser’s Office issued directives on three occasions to curb government employees’ indiscriminate overseas travel. The first directive, issued on December 9, 2024, discouraged overseas travel and stated that such trips would not be allowed unless they served an essential national interest. It also instructed officials to avoid less-essential travel funded by the government.
The directive barred ministry secretaries and heads of subordinate departments or agencies from travelling abroad together unless it was for an absolutely essential national interest. For procurement, pre-shipment inspections or factory acceptance tests, among other purposes, the directive instructed authorities to consider sending only the relevant specialists.
The former Chief Adviser’s Office issued another circular on March 23, 2025, providing guidelines for government officials travelling abroad and stating that overseas trips financed by contractors or suppliers must be avoided. It also advised officials to avoid travelling abroad as companions of advisers, senior secretaries, secretaries, private secretaries or assistant private secretaries unless there was an urgent reason.
The circular further stated that government officials could not include their wives, husbands or children as companions on official overseas trips. Another directive on overseas travel was issued on October 21 that year. According to sources at the Prime Minister’s Office, the directives on overseas travel by government officials remain in force.
After taking office, the BNP government has taken several initiatives to reduce expenditure. On April 30, the Finance Division issued a directive making economy-class air travel mandatory for additional secretaries and officials of equivalent rank travelling abroad, instead of business, club or executive class. Later, the Finance Division issued a circular on July 8, imposing restrictions on various types of overseas trips by government officials.
Last year, the Local Government Division approved overseas trips for many officials under the pretext of training, inspections and various tests related to the procurement of mobile toilets, sewage treatment plant equipment, trailers, chain dozers and scraper bridges. Some officials were also approved to travel abroad for operation and maintenance training, inaugural ceremonies, exhibitions and technical sessions related to wheel dozers, three-wheel static road rollers, landfill compactor vehicles and overpass POT bearings. Most of the travel expenses were borne by contractors or suppliers. Bonik Barta published several reports on the issue at the time.
Although such overseas trips remained suspended for several months before and after the 13th parliamentary election, officials concerned say the practice has recently started to re-emerge.
Asked about such overseas trips by government officials, State Minister for Public Administration Md Abdul Bari told Bonik Barta, “The prime minister has instructed us to ensure transparency and accountability in all cases and to stop waste and corruption. The state administration is being run accordingly.”
Those concerned say overseas trips financed by contractors or suppliers have been taking place in Bangladesh for a long time. There have been allegations that officials previously used various means to take such trips. Suppliers generally arrange these trips at their own expense. Consequently, such travel is not considered compliant with regulations, as expenses of this nature borne by contractors or suppliers can create conflicts of interest.
There is a risk that suppliers could seek to recover such costs by providing substandard products or compromising the quality of their work. It is also possible for officials to develop a favourable inclination towards a company after travelling abroad at its expense. In such circumstances, if the company later supplies substandard products, action may not be taken against it.
Dr Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), told Bonik Barta, “Such overseas trips aren’t merely a violation of a directive issued by the Prime Minister’s Office; they’re also examples of accepting unwarranted allegiance from product suppliers and enjoying unethical and greed-driven personal benefits. Accepting such favours is humiliating for the government and the country. It also creates an example of developing undue attachment to vendors, which is a punishable irregularity in violation of government procurement policy.”
A circular issued by the Finance Division on July 8 this year imposed strict restrictions on overseas travel by government officials, stating that all foreign training, seminars, symposiums and workshops funded by the government would remain suspended. But officials would still be allowed to pursue master’s and PhD programmes, scholarships and fellowships, or participate in overseas training funded by foreign governments, development partners, universities or other countries.
The circular also allowed the overseas component of basic and mandatory training organised by training institutes to be held at suitable universities or institutions abroad. In the case of pre-shipment inspection (PSI) and factory acceptance tests (FAT), overseas travel would be considered only for specialists or officials with technical certification in the relevant field and only in complex or mandatory circumstances. But priority was to be given to having the tests conducted by internationally recognised institutions.
Those concerned also view overseas trips financed by contractors, manufacturers or suppliers, in addition to violating government directives, as “unethical” and creating a “conflict of interest”.
Former Finance Secretary and Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) Mohammad Muslim Chowdhury told Bonik Barta, “The first issue is that the supplier is financing the trip. That means it’s making an investment here. This could potentially create a conflict of interest, and such conflicts should be avoided. Another issue is that it wasn’t appropriate to issue orders approving such trips while the existing directives remain in force.”
Attempts were made to contact State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam and Local Government Division Secretary Md Shahidul Hasan by phone for their comments. But they had not responded by the time this report was filed.