The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) will soon forward the case of alleged collusion and bribery in the procurement works by the Thimphu Thromde to the district court. The OAG is currently reviewing the case. The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) forwarded the case involving Thromde engineers and two contractors to OAG in 2019.
The ACC charged an engineer of Thimphu Thromde for passive bribery under the Anti-Corruption Act. He was alleged of manipulating the tender bid of a contractor on the pretext of correcting arithmetical error and helping the contractor win the bid. He was a tender evaluation committee member and the contractor allegedly paid him Nu 178,500 over a period of eight months after the evaluation of the bids. The work includes providing and laying sewer lines at upper Langjophaka and upper Taba.
The commission also charged a former engineer of the Thromde with passive bribery for allegedly receiving Nu 100,000 from the contractor who constructed only 50 manholes instead of 76. It happened during the construction of sewer networks in Motithang, Changangkha, Zilukha and adjoining areas. The engineer, who was compulsorily retired in 2018, was also accused of not informing the management about the absence of the project engineer while executing the work. This, according to the ACC is a breach of the contract.
The ACC’s investigation also found the involvement of another engineer in contract works awarded to the contractors. He was assigned to monitor and inspect for the same work. According to the investigation report, the contractors allegedly allowed him to carry out the work after verbal understandings. He reportedly verified the final bills for one construction company without the actual construction of manholes at Yangchenphug area and differences in depth of the manholes. He was charged with three counts of abuse of functions as per section 58 (1) of the Anti-Corruption Act*.
Meanwhile, the ACC also requests the court to cancel the licenses of the two contractors after finding corrupt practices. They were accused of violating the Anti-Corruption Act. The case was brought to the notice of ACC in 2017.
The OAG officials said that the COVID-19 pandemic affected the prosecution of the case.
Kinley Dem/Tshering Zam
* A public servant who knowingly abuses functions or position by performing an act amounting to favouritism, nepotism or patronage, etc in violation of laws, in discharge of his or her functions to obtain advantage for himself or herself or for another person shall be guilty of an offence.
An offence under this section shall be a misdemeanor or value-based sentencing, whichever is higher subject to a maximum of the felony of the second degree if the value or the amounts involved in the crime exceed the total amount of minimum wage at the time of the crime for a period of 35 years or more.
