DNCC alleges irregularities in purchasing mosquito repellent at 10 times the market price

Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) has purchased mosquito repellent from a supplier company at a price nearly 10 times higher than the market price for mosquito control. There have been allegations of various irregularities in the entire process, from checking the market price to inviting tenders.

In the 2023-24 fiscal year, DNCC authorities purchased 3,000 kg of Novaluron-0.8P from Genetica Industries Limited to kill mosquitoes. The price was set at Tk 21,068 per kg. The company's total cost per kg (including all costs, taxes, and profits) for importing and supplying the repellent was only Tk 2,114. Accordingly, the cost per 3,000 kg was Tk 6,342,000. However, DNCC purchased this repellent for Tk 63,240,000.

DNCC Chief Executive Officer Mir Khairul Alam told Mornews that an investigation will be conducted to see if there were any irregularities in the purchase.

According to the records of the Custom House Dhaka, Genetica brought a consignment of 500 kg of Novaluron from the UK on a Qatar Airways flight. This cost Genetica Tk 566,176. The total cost including Tk 331,779 in duty stands at Tk 897,955.

The city corporation levies 7 percent value-added tax (VAT) on the product. When this VAT is added, the cost stands at Tk 960,811. With this, the total price including the 10 percent profit set for the supplier stands at Tk 1056,893. Accordingly, the price of Novaluron per kg stands at Tk 2,114. But the DNCC authorities have charged the supplier Tk 21,068 for each kg of Novaluron, which is 10 times more than the total price.

Market price verification and collusion in tenders
To verify the market price of Novaluron, DNCC Assistant Stores and Procurement Officer Rahat Al Faisal sent bids to four companies on November 5 last year. The companies were Madina Indenting Limited and JESCO Solutions of Chittagong, A&I Group and Cherry Incorporation of Dhaka. None of these companies had approval to import pesticides from the Plant Protection Wing of the Department of Agricultural Extension.

Three days after requesting proposals, Madina Indenting bid 20,800 taka per kg for Novaluron. In addition, JESCO bid 21,700 taka, A&I Group 22,300 taka and Cherry Corporation bid 23,100 taka.

Based on these proposals, DNCC fixed 21,795 taka per kg for Novaluron and invited tenders on e-GP on November 30 last year. Genetica, Medina Indenting and Jesco Solutions participated in this. Genetica was ordered to supply on February 28.

Verification of the information of the companies participating in the tender shows that HM Hakim Ali is the managing director of Medina. He is the father of Mohammad Irad Ali, the husband of Genetica owner Ashmita. Irad Ali's visiting card shows that he is the owner of Genetica, Hotel Agrabad, A&I Group and Intraco Group.

That the companies are under the same ownership is clear from the invoice document for the supply of Novaluron. The bid proposal was signed by the company's manager Abu Bakr Siddique on behalf of Medina Indenting. He, in turn, signed the invoice for the supply of Novaluron on behalf of Genetica. The addresses of the Dhaka offices of Genetica and Medina Indenting are also the same.

However, regarding the market price verification, Rahat Al Faisal, the convener of the committee, told Prothom Alo that he had contacted several other companies on his mobile phone to request bid proposals. But those institutions did not want to submit bids.

This is a completely collusive tender process. According to Section 64 of the Public Procurement Act, several crimes have been committed here. Therefore, these institutions should be blacklisted.

Former Director General of the Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) Faruk Hossain
The chairman of the tender evaluation committee and DNCC Chief Health Officer Brigadier General Imrul Kayes Chowdhury said that the responsibility of verifying all the documents lies with the person inviting the tender, that is, the Chief Stores and Procurement Officer. The evaluation committee only verifies how much the institutions bid and which institution offered the lowest bid.

However, despite repeated calls to the then Chief Stores and Procurement Officer of the DNCC, Ramendra Nath Biswas, who invited the tender, he did not pick up.

Former Director General of the government's Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) Faruk Hossain said in this regard that this is a completely collusive tender process. According to Section 64 of the Public Procurement Act, several offences have been committed here. Therefore, these institutions should be blacklisted.

Such irregularities result in wastage of taxpayers' money and lack of transparency. It is necessary to investigate the complaints and take disciplinary action against the institutions and individuals involved.