No supervision in construction

It is quite by accident that a group of youths came across information that bamboo sticks were being used in the construction of a government building instead of iron rods. The building in question is being constructed by a contractor for the Department of Agriculture Extension in Dharshana under Damurhuda upazila. They confronted the contractor and then the locals got involved. Since the news broke, we have seen a flurry of activity amongst officials and even a local Member of Parliament has visited the site. Subsequent investigation has revealed "gross anomalies" in construction and much of the work is being redone.

What catches our attention is why this has happened in the first place. Going by what has been reported in this paper, the quantity of 5kg of iron rod to construct the louvers was necessary. So obviously the placement of bamboos in place of rods wasn't motivated by greed to make extra profit. At the end of the day the fault lies with the concerned department in its failure to make sure that work contracted out was not properly overseen.

What would have happened had this incident gone unchecked and the building was completed with such flimsy material leading to a horrible accident? Who would take responsibility for damage caused not just to public property but to people occupying the building? We have no way of knowing precisely how many such buildings have been constructed or are being constructed in the country, but there is serious need for the local administration to oversee that contractors comply with quality of construction.