TigerIT, an internationally blacklisted firm, has maintained a stranglehold on the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) over the last 13 years, managing important projects like number plates and digital smart card driving licences with the blessings of the top level of the deposed Awami League government.
TigerIT’s control over the BRTA was facilitated by its close ties with Maj Gen (retd) Tarique Ahmed Siddique, security adviser to deposed Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the brother-in-law of her sister Sheikh Rehana, according to a media investigation.
Due to the influence from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), no BRTA officials ever thought of an alternative to TigerIT for the much-talked-about smart card project.
The World Bank found evidence of corruption in the smart card printing project of the Election Commission (EC) and then it blacklisted TigerIT for nine and a half years in 2019 and its Chairman Ziaur Rahman for six and a half years on corruption charges.Following the blacklisting of TigerIT, another Bangladeshi company CNS entered into the project by appealing before the court as the government cancelled the contract with TigerIT.
Later, Indian venture Madras Security Printers was appointed through a fresh tender, but the contract was delayed till June 2021 as TigerIT did not hand over the server and database to the new vendor.
According to the media investigation, TigerIT kept control over the BRTA projects over the years through a nexus with corrupt officials of the deposed AL government. A copy of the TigerIT audit report shows that the company fetched a profit of Tk22.2 million from the BRTA project in the financial year of 2019-20.
TigerIT keeps the footprint in public procurement through some shadow companies under the umbrella of TUSUKA Group. TUSUKA Group is linked with Shahnaj Siddique, wife of Tarique Ahmed Siddique. TUSUKA Group connects Penta Global, NovoTel, Computer Services Limited (CSL), IBCS-Primax and TigerIT.
With the help of the Tarique Siddique-led nexus, TigerIT bagged different public procurement projects, including the smart card driving licence one of the BRTA, using the names of ICBS-Primex and CSL. Blacklisted Ziaur Rahman keeps control of the entire project from Dubai.
As a WB-blacklisted firm, TigerIT will not be able to participate in any international tenders until 2027 while its Chairman Ziaur Rahman is not eligible to engage in international procurement until 2025.
US companies like Oracle and Cisco also have withdrawn contracts with TigerIT due to the international ban on Ziaur Rahman. He opened several shell companies in Europe (mainly for money laundering) to evade sanctions.
TigerIT allegedly embezzled millions of dollars from Bangladesh through different public contracts from the EC, Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA), Department of Immigration and Passports, and NID wing of the Election Commission, especially under the shadow of IBCS-Primax without any surveillance and evaluation.
Apart from the influence of Tarique Siddique, blacklisted Ziaur Rahman appointed AHM Rashed Sarwar as managing director of TigerIT to get privileges from the Awami League government. Rashed’s father-in-law is a former president of Kushtia unit of the Awami League. After the political change, Rashed fled to the US with his family.
TigerIT has been dominating BRTA projects taking advantage of the reference to Tarique Siddique. All BRTA officials kept mum over the issue for the last 13 years due to the unholy nexus from the PMO.
Digital smart card driving licences with electronic chips were introduced in 2011 to prevent fake driving licences. From the beginning, TigerIT was involved with the BRTA.
After the appointment of Madras Security Printers following the blacklisting of TigerIT, the BRTA asked it several times to hand over the server and database to the new vendor, but the company did not pay any heed to the call. TigerIT has controlled the project over the years.
This correspondent tried to reach Ziaur Rahman for his comments about the allegations. However, he was unreachable over the phone.
Sumon Ahmed Sabir, a member of the executive committee at Asia Pacific Network Information Centre (APNIC), thinks having the information of citizens of the country in the hands of a blacklisted company like TigerIT is a very risky task.
He believes that a vast data respiratory of 180 million to a single company may pose risks for the country as the venture did not come through the proper procurement process.
“There’s a lack of accountability. An organisation has been operating for more than a decade without any competition, which is unusual in the developed world,” Sumon said, adding that such a practice has been happening for a long time using the vicious cycle of power.
Any technology company should go through a competitive process and then the wastage of government money will be greatly reduced, he added.
AKM Fahim Mashroor, a former president of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), the apex trade body in the technology sector, said many local organisations are able to work through tenders to manage BRTA’s platform.
“Direct procurement through only a single organisation is impractical,” he said.
The tech expert said due to the lack of accountability, it will be difficult to bring those responsible under law in the case of information leakage or other technical problems as a state institution like BRTA is under the grip of a single company.
Sheikh Hasina’s cabinet on 13 February 2020 approved a Tk189 million project to buy 4 lakh digital smart card driving licences without any tender. Each licence is purchased at approximately 10 times the price of the high-end order. Although the market price of each smart card is Tk50, it was bought for Tk472.60 under the project.
According to statistics of driving licences issued in previous years, 3 lakh smart card driving licences are required every year on average.
BDST: 1049 HRS, SEPT 18, 2024
