The hospital recently bought 12 medical and surgical equipment including an MRI machine worth Tk3 crore for almost Tk10 crore.
A Tk15,000 Blood Warmer used for blood transfusion was bought for Tk9.32 lakhs.
An Autoscope worth Tk10,000 was bought for Tk3.70 lakhs by the hospital.
The MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) machine was procured from Bengal Scientific and Surgical Company at an exorbitant price of Tk9,95,50,000 crore whereas the manufacturer Shenzhen Basda Company Ltd, China had offered the machine for Tk2.80 crore.
Four ultrasound machines all Hitachi Color Doppler were procured for the hospital for Tk65 lakh each while the local agent for the manufacturer said that they usually cost Tk24.50 lakh each.
All this was disclosed in a probe report at a meeting by Chittagong General Hospital Management Committee.
A probe body was formed headed by Chittagong Deputy Commissioner Mesbah Uddin on April 10 after allegations of rampant corruption over the procurement of medical equipment.
Dr Azizur Rahman Siddiqui, Chittagong Civil Surgeon and Dr Foysal Iqbal Chowdhury, member of Chittagong General Hospital Management Committee were part of the three-member probe committee.
While revealing the findings of the investigation, Chittagong Deputy Commissioner Mesbah Uddin said that the instruments procured for the hospital in the fiscal year 2014-15 were without any budget allocation and Annual Procurement Plan (APP).
“The instruments procured for the hospital were not provided by any authorized dealers of the manufacturing companies. Moreover, the instruments were procured at a price much higher than the market price,” said Mesbah Uddin.
Scrutinizing the memo register of the hospital, it was revealed that Ms Ahmed Enterprise was given a work order of Tk2.98 crore for supplying 10 medical instruments on April 30 last year.
Another work order was issued to Ms Ahmed Enterprise to supply eight ICU ventilators, eight ICU beds and a cardiac monitor at Tk5,37,25,000 all in violation of the rules.
The investigators said that not a single instrument supplied by Ms Ahmed Enterprise met the standards of technical specification, catalogue and country of origin.
Dr Sarfaraz Khan Chowdhury the probe report found was responsible for the violation of procurement act as he was the Civil Surgeon of Chittagong and the Superintendent of Chittagong General Hospital at the time.
During his tenure he issued the work order and floated tenders to procure the medical instruments like patient monitor, syringe pump, ECG machine, anesthesia machine, infusion pump, blood warmer, autoscope, pulse oximeter, ultrasounds and MRI machines.
Violating Public Procurement Rules-2008, Dr Sarfaraz also acted as the head of Procuring Entity, Technical Sub-Committee and Technical Evaluation Committee simultaneously.
After formally receiving the investigation report from the probe body, MP Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu president of Chittagong General Hospital Management Committee told reporters that they would send official letters to Anti Corruption Commission, Health Ministry and DG of Health Services to launch further investigation into the allegations and take necessary punitive actions against those responsible.
“This is sheer corruption and the person involved with the gross anomalies has to meet legal consequences,” said MP Ziauddin Ahmed Bablu.
Chittagong General Hospital was established in 1901 making it the first public hospital of the region.
Thursday, April 25, 2024
