Turkey visit of 6 PSTU officials cancelled at President's order

At the directive of President and Chancelllor Mohammed Shahabuddin, the visit of six officials of Pabna Science and Technology University (PSTU) to Turkey for buying lifts has been cancelled.

PSTU public relations officer Faruque Hossain Chowdhury confirmed it on Friday.

The president issued the order before leaving the country to attend the installation ceremony of Turkish president-elect Recep Tayyip Erdogan, which is slated for June 3 in Ankara.
Work for construction of a total of five modern buildings including the academic building and residential halls of Pabna Science and Technology University is now going on. It has been decided to buy 25 lifts for those under-construction buildings.

In order to 'check and supervision' before buying those lifts, a six-member PSTU team was scheduled to visit Turkey on June 6. The PSUT authorities also allocated Tk 25 lakh for their visit to Turkey.

Meanwhile, there was a hue and cry when it was known that six PSTU officials were going to Turkey before buying lifts. The university's Regent Board members also expressed strong reaction to the news.

Regent Board member and valiant freedom fighter Anjan Chowdhury Pintu said the company, named 'Hitcox Global Engineering Ltd' which is scheduled to supply 25 lifts to the PSTU, has already supplied more than 150 lifts to different organisations in Bangladesh. So, there is no need to go to Turkey to see the lifts. Lifts are now being loaded to a ship. There is no scope of making opinion. Members of the delegation are also not experienced in this regard.

He also said the visit would be nothing but "waste of public money and unnecessary pleasure trip."

Meanwhile, the university administration has claimed that the trip was arranged in accordance with the existing rules. PSTU's project director Lt Col (Retd) GM Azizur Rahman said no additional money was required for the visit of six officials to Turkey. The contracting firm was scheduled to bear the cost of the trip. There was no waste of money from the government's coffer.