Roads & Highways Department

A.K.M. Saifuddin, Dhaka
Mr. Iqbal Mahmood, Associate Engineer, Petra Geotechnical, Inc. (April 11, 2007) commented, "As an engineer and based on my discussions with fellow engineers both in Bangladesh and abroad, it is my firm belief that the Roads & Highways Department is one of the most corrupt organisations in Bangladesh." or "Most of the engineers from subdivision to chief engineer level are known to be corrupt." It is a bit amusing that only discussions (he did not mention if he had worked with the RHD as a consultant or otherwise and seen the inside of it) with fellow engineers have totally convinced a erudite and enlightened person that most of the engineers from subdivision to top level are corrupt.

It is impossible for an organisation to run if most of its officials are corrupt. As an engineer he should know that an engineering department consists of planning, design, and implementation wings among other things. Qualified engineers are working in these wings. There are lots of engineers who defied political and local pressure to compromise the quality of work and contribute to their "political fund" or increase the influential contractor's profit and had to undergo harassment or transfer. These are the people who are doing development work for the country getting tanned under scorching sun or drenched in rain and braving the corrupt politicians, local muscleman etc. And there are some other people who are selling their knowledge to some alien entity and discussing corruption charges with fellow engineers inside their cozy air-conditioned room.

Corruption has many faces. Tempering audit sheets or making false statements is a common phenomenon of the so-called clean private organisations. When a professor of a public/private university gives little attention to his class and competes to get a consultancy (say in RHD), it is not "conventional" corruption. But it is, nevertheless, corruption..

The RHD is making new roads, bridges and maintaining them. They are doing this in their motherland and contributing to development. There are qualified engineers appointed through a rigourous selection method (Technical part of BCS was not polluted like Police or Admin cadres) and there are people who prefer to apply their knowledge for the well being their country, instead of applying the same for a foreign body in exchange of a hefty salary package.