Raihanul Abedin
Encyclopedia
Major Muhammad Raihanul Abedin, (born 12 March 1949) is a former military officer of the Bangladesh Army
and an energy, power and utilities engineer. He was the former PSC
Director of the Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation
. Working on behalf of the government of Bangladesh
, he oversaw all energy production treaties with various foreign energy companies, including Enron Corporation, Niko Resources
, and Tullow Oil
.
Abedin initiated the $230 million deal with Unocal Corporation
(now Chevron Corporation
) in 2004, after getting approval from Prime Minister Khaleda Zia
. He was also a senior National Committee Member for International Clean Cities
program of the United States Department of Energy
in Bangladesh.
Abedin then served as the Managing Director of Water Supply and Sewerage System
operations of the government of Bangladesh, during the military-supported government of Bangladesh
in 2007. He was forced to resign once the ruling party
took power in the 2009 national elections
when the newly formed government sued top officials of the old regime. Abedin, during whose time WASA was expanded from six to 11 zones was called in the Local Government Rural Development and Cooperatives (LGRD) Ministry on April,2009 and asked to resign immediately due to nepotism
, according to the new Government.
. He attended the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology
, where he studied Mechanical Engineering
, graduating in 1970. He married Samsun Nahar, a member of the Munshi Bari
family of Comilla. Nahar was the older sister of author Saleh Uddin
. He has two daughters and a son.
Army, then later the newly formed Bangladesh Army, where he served along side Sheikh Kamal
, son of former President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
of Bangladesh
. In 1982, he retired from the military
, ranked a Major to work in the private sector.
. This was at the Bibiyana field, which was located roughly around 180 miles north-east of the capital Dhaka
, and had a reserve of 2.4 trillion cubic feet of gas; it was found by Unocal in 1998. When asked about the 1997 blowout of the Magurchhara gas field, caused by Occidental Petroleum
(later taken over by Chevron) and the resulting $6.12 billion suit against Chevron Corporation, (of which only TK 380,000,000 was paid in damages) and why nothing was done of it, he said "Ask the government". He also received objection letters from Tullow Oil, when they objected the sell out of Chevron Texaco interests to Niko Resources and the Government of Bangladesh.
gas fields
in Bangladesh (the company accidentally caused an explosion
, initially refused to pay for damanges and gave the Minister responsible for overseeing compensation claims an expensive vehicle; Niko eventually did compensate the 620 affected families). Investigation into corruption allegations were made by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
in January 2009. Blowout or failure of equipments are generally out of human control and scope. Most planned and prepared operations can fail against response from Mother Nature
.
In an attempt to blackmail the government of Bangladesh, Niko Resources suspended gas supply from the Feni gas field, Abedin sharply reacted by saying that they (Petrobangla under Bangladesh) might be constrained to take serious steps under the laws of Bangladesh. Abedin formally claimed compensations from Niko Resources, after both Begum Khaleda Zia, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh
and the Energy Advisor approved it. In his letter, Abedin outline Niko's duty to supply three billion cubic feet (BCF) of gas free of cost for burning the same amount of gas in Tengratila, and also compensate Petrobangla for another 5.89 BCF of gas burnt at the sub-surface level. The letter also sought Tk 840 million as compensation for damage to environment, after Niko paid Tk 25 million to the local people. Later, Abedin met with President and CEO
of Niko Resources at the Energy Division meeting along with the Energy Secretary to resolve pending issues.
In 1998 and 1999, Enron Corporation was also selected for the blocks alongside Oakland, where Enron proposed 80 percent share for themselves, and the rest for Oakland. The High Court of Bangladesh, placed a ban on signing any Production sharing agreement
with any international oil company in December 2001, the same year that Enron Corporation went bankrupt for the Enron scandal
. Production sharing agreement
head, Abedin outright rejected the notion, saying it was just a visit to the National Energy Sector, adding that they did not have a specific proposal. The Oakland-Rexwood blocks were later operated by Tullow Oil.
(WASA), by the military backed Government of Bangladesh
, allegedly because of his military ties. He was given charge of the sector when ammonia
and other impurities concentration were severely high, which resulted in him taking an initiative to set a pre-treatment plant for controlling the ammonia concentration. It was to be supervised by Danish International Development Agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
of the Kingdom of Denmark
and funded by Asian Development Bank
. He also talked about the World Bank
funded sewage treatment facility that improves water conditions.
The national board was already on the deep end of the water shortage, by at least 350 million L, with the demand for the Metropolitan capital of Dhaka
being around 2 billion L. The national electricity crisis
of the power grid was a major problem, as due to low voltage
and frequent black outs, maximum capacity could not be delivered.
Health issues became a concern, once researchers and studies found that various chemical concentrations were found to be ten times higher than the standards set by World Health Organization
. This, according to the board was due to the disposal of industrial effluents that no government board monitored regularly at the time.
In 2008, the online billing system was introduced for the utility board and it heralded mixed signals from the citizens mainly because of spotty Internet
services and in 2009, WASA increased water tariff by 20 percent, only after a month after a five percent increase in tariff. He said that it was due to frequent power outage, which is why pumps have to be often ran by generators, which is contributing to a rise in water lifting cost.
By mid 2009, the water crisis was so large and widespread, that WASA decided to transport tanks of water on trucks to major areas of the capital. Earlier the same month, he said that "due to dependence on deep tube wells, water layers in the city are dropping around three metres a year on average" about the excessive use of underground water of the capital through around a thousand illegal deep tube wells, and filling up of low-lying land, canals and water bodies are causing the underground water level to drop alarmingly. Various researchers say that this could put the citizens in severe water crisis in the future and also cause land to subside. As a result, the capital
braced for one of their history's worst water logging problems, that Abedin believed was resulted from unauthorized buildings being built on land filled up from ponds and lakes. He also brought attention to more than a 100,000 illegal links in the national water supply network which costs the nation around Tk 350 million a year.
Before his resignation from the post, Abedin proposed the government to take measures to use the alternative sources of water like rainwater, constructing sufficient water reservoir
around the capital and setting up of wastewater
and effluent treatment plants.
Resignation
On April 8, 2009, Abedin resigned from his position and a Joint Secretary from the Ministry of Local Government Rural Development (LGRD) of Bangladesh was a temporary replacement for him, before the newly elected government chose another suitor.
The new government filed a case that had Abedin allegedly occupying a state palatial residence, corruption and nepotism in appointment, promotion and transfer; unauthorized use of various official cars; use of staff for personal purposes. He also allegedly hired 331 employees with bribes, all from his ancestral region, Comilla. In addition, two deputy managing directors out of four, two additional chief engineers, two out of ten superintending engineers and most of those on muster roll were also from Comilla.
In response, Abedin said that according to the WASA Act of 1996, he is entitled to live in the palatial complex, as he took initiatives during the caretaker government to retrieve a six bigha
palatial house of WASA in Gulshan, which had been rented out to people without any legal authority. "A government residential house cannot be rented out," he added.
After Abedin resigned, the charges disappeared. He concluded by saying "A certain group influenced some of media people to publish baseless reports about me with a malicious intention."
Bangladesh Army
The Bangladesh Army is the land forces branch and the largest of the three uniformed service of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The primary mission of the Army is to provide necessary forces and capabilities in support of Bangladesh's security and defense strategies including defense of the nation's...
and an energy, power and utilities engineer. He was the former PSC
Production sharing agreement
Production sharing agreements are a common type of contract signed between a government and a resource extraction company concerning how much of the resource extracted from the country each will receive....
Director of the Bangladesh Oil, Gas and Mineral Corporation
Petrobangla
Petrobangla is a government-owned national oil company of Bangladesh. It explores, produces, transports and sells oil, natural gas and other mineral resources...
. Working on behalf of the government of Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
, he oversaw all energy production treaties with various foreign energy companies, including Enron Corporation, Niko Resources
Niko Resources
Niko Resources is an India and South East Asia focused oil and gas exploration and production company that shares ownership of many exploration and development properties with Komodo Energy and Reliance Industries. Though it holds exploration rights to of land in 7 countries production currently...
, and Tullow Oil
Tullow Oil
Tullow Oil plc is a global oil and gas exploration company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It has interests in over 85 licences across 23 countries and in 2010 produced 58,100 barrels of oil equivalent per day...
.
Abedin initiated the $230 million deal with Unocal Corporation
Unocal Corporation
Union Oil Company of California, dba Unocal is a defunct company that was a major petroleum explorer and marketer in the late 19th century, through the 20th century, and into the early 21st century. It was headquartered in El Segundo, California, United States.On August 10, 2005, Unocal merged...
(now Chevron Corporation
Chevron Corporation
Chevron Corporation is an American multinational energy corporation headquartered in San Ramon, California, United States and active in more than 180 countries. It is engaged in every aspect of the oil, gas, and geothermal energy industries, including exploration and production; refining,...
) in 2004, after getting approval from Prime Minister Khaleda Zia
Khaleda Zia
Begum Khaleda Zia is the former First Lady of Bangladesh , and then Prime Minister of Bangladesh, having served from 1991 to 1996, becoming the first woman in the country's history and second in the Muslim world to head a democratic government as prime minister. She served again from 2001 until...
. He was also a senior National Committee Member for International Clean Cities
Clean Cities
Clean Cities is a government-industry partnership in the United States that provides regional coalitions with information and incentives from the United States Department of Energy , a large collection of technical data and resources, and coordinated strategies and resources they can leverage to...
program of the United States Department of Energy
United States Department of Energy
The United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
in Bangladesh.
Abedin then served as the Managing Director of Water Supply and Sewerage System
Water supply and sanitation in Bangladesh
Water supply and sanitation in Bangladesh is characterized by a number of achievements and challenges. The share of the population with access to an improved water source was estimated at 98% in 2004, a very high level for a low-income country. This has been achieved to a large extent through the...
operations of the government of Bangladesh, during the military-supported government of Bangladesh
Caretaker government of Bangladesh
The Caretaker Government of Bangladesh is a form of government system in which the country is ruled by a selected government for an interim period during transition from one government to another, after the completion tenure of the former. As the outgoing government hands over their power, the...
in 2007. He was forced to resign once the ruling party
Bangladesh Awami League
The Bangladesh Awami League , commonly known as the Awami League, is the mainstream center-left, secular political party in Bangladesh...
took power in the 2009 national elections
Elections in Bangladesh
Elections in Bangladesh gives information on election and election results in Bangladesh.Bangladesh elects on national level a legislature with one house or chamber...
when the newly formed government sued top officials of the old regime. Abedin, during whose time WASA was expanded from six to 11 zones was called in the Local Government Rural Development and Cooperatives (LGRD) Ministry on April,2009 and asked to resign immediately due to nepotism
Nepotism
Nepotism is favoritism granted to relatives regardless of merit. The word nepotism is from the Latin word nepos, nepotis , from which modern Romanian nepot and Italian nipote, "nephew" or "grandchild" are also descended....
, according to the new Government.
Personal background
Abedin was born to a family of dewans, who were chief ministers for the ruling kings and nobles of ComillaComilla
Comilla is a city in south-eastern Bangladesh, located along the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway. It is the administrative center of the Comilla District, part of the Chittagong Division. The Eastern Wing of Bangladesh Highway Police is located in Comilla....
. He attended the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology or BUET as it is commonly known, is a Public Engineering University in Bangladesh. It is the oldest Engineering institution in the region, and is regarded as the best university for technological education in Bangladesh...
, where he studied Mechanical Engineering
Mechanical engineering
Mechanical engineering is a discipline of engineering that applies the principles of physics and materials science for analysis, design, manufacturing, and maintenance of mechanical systems. It is the branch of engineering that involves the production and usage of heat and mechanical power for the...
, graduating in 1970. He married Samsun Nahar, a member of the Munshi Bari
Munshi
Munshi was the Hindi-Urdu name of a contractor, writer or secretary, used in Mughal Empire and later British India of the native language teachers or secretaries employed by Europeans....
family of Comilla. Nahar was the older sister of author Saleh Uddin
Saleh Uddin
Mohammad Saleh "Badal" Uddin is an American architect, professor, author and artist. His books, published by McGraw-Hill and John Wiley are widely used as graphical communication and design textbooks internationally, and is published in different languages such as English, Chinese and Spanish...
. He has two daughters and a son.
Military background
In 1970, Abedin was commissioned in the East PakistanEast Pakistan
East Pakistan was a provincial state of Pakistan established in 14 August 1947. The provincial state existed until its declaration of independence on 26 March 1971 as the independent nation of Bangladesh. Pakistan recognized the new nation on 16 December 1971. East Pakistan was created from Bengal...
Army, then later the newly formed Bangladesh Army, where he served along side Sheikh Kamal
Sheikh Kamal
Sheikh Kamal was the son of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding leader of Bangladesh. Sheikh Kamal, had completed his matriculation from Shaheen School, Dhaka, and Higher Secondary Certificate Examination from Dhaka College. He practiced sitar at Chhayanaut, a school of music...
, son of former President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was a Bengali nationalist politician and the founder of Bangladesh. He headed the Awami League, served as the first President of Bangladesh and later became its Prime Minister. He headed the Awami League, served as the first President of Bangladesh and later became its...
of Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
. In 1982, he retired from the military
Military
A military is an organization authorized by its greater society to use lethal force, usually including use of weapons, in defending its country by combating actual or perceived threats. The military may have additional functions of use to its greater society, such as advancing a political agenda e.g...
, ranked a Major to work in the private sector.
Occidental Petroleum and Unocal (Chevron)
Abedin personally initiated the $230 million (£123.9m) deal with Unocal Corporation (now Chevron Corporation) in 2004, on behalf of Bangladesh, after getting approval from the Prime Minister Khaleda ZiaKhaleda Zia
Begum Khaleda Zia is the former First Lady of Bangladesh , and then Prime Minister of Bangladesh, having served from 1991 to 1996, becoming the first woman in the country's history and second in the Muslim world to head a democratic government as prime minister. She served again from 2001 until...
. This was at the Bibiyana field, which was located roughly around 180 miles north-east of the capital Dhaka
Dhaka
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...
, and had a reserve of 2.4 trillion cubic feet of gas; it was found by Unocal in 1998. When asked about the 1997 blowout of the Magurchhara gas field, caused by Occidental Petroleum
Occidental Petroleum
Occidental Petroleum Corporation is a California-based oil and gas exploration and production company with operations in the United States, the Middle East, North Africa, and South America...
(later taken over by Chevron) and the resulting $6.12 billion suit against Chevron Corporation, (of which only TK 380,000,000 was paid in damages) and why nothing was done of it, he said "Ask the government". He also received objection letters from Tullow Oil, when they objected the sell out of Chevron Texaco interests to Niko Resources and the Government of Bangladesh.
Niko Resources
Between 2003 and 2006, Niko Resources was possibly involved in a corruption scandal involving the $750 million Tengratila and FeniFeni
Feni may refer to:*Feni District, in Bangladesh**Feni Girls Cadet College*Feni Islands, in Papua New Guinea*Feni liquor, is a local alcoholic brew made in Goa, India*Feni River, in Bangladesh and India*Feni Rose, Indonesia TV presenter...
gas fields
Natural gas field
Oil and natural gas are produced by the same geological process according fossil fuel suggestion: anaerobic decay of organic matter deep under the Earth's surface. As a consequence, oil and natural gas are often found together...
in Bangladesh (the company accidentally caused an explosion
Explosion
An explosion is a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner, usually with the generation of high temperatures and the release of gases. An explosion creates a shock wave. If the shock wave is a supersonic detonation, then the source of the blast is called a "high explosive"...
, initially refused to pay for damanges and gave the Minister responsible for overseeing compensation claims an expensive vehicle; Niko eventually did compensate the 620 affected families). Investigation into corruption allegations were made by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...
in January 2009. Blowout or failure of equipments are generally out of human control and scope. Most planned and prepared operations can fail against response from Mother Nature
Mother Nature
Mother Nature is a common personification of nature that focuses on the life-giving and nurturing aspects of nature by embodying it in the form of the mother. Images of women representing mother earth, and mother nature, are timeless...
.
In an attempt to blackmail the government of Bangladesh, Niko Resources suspended gas supply from the Feni gas field, Abedin sharply reacted by saying that they (Petrobangla under Bangladesh) might be constrained to take serious steps under the laws of Bangladesh. Abedin formally claimed compensations from Niko Resources, after both Begum Khaleda Zia, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh
Prime Minister of Bangladesh
The Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Bangladesh is the Head of the Government of Bangladesh. The Prime Minister and the Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Jatiya Sangsad Parliament, to their political party and ultimately to the electorate...
and the Energy Advisor approved it. In his letter, Abedin outline Niko's duty to supply three billion cubic feet (BCF) of gas free of cost for burning the same amount of gas in Tengratila, and also compensate Petrobangla for another 5.89 BCF of gas burnt at the sub-surface level. The letter also sought Tk 840 million as compensation for damage to environment, after Niko paid Tk 25 million to the local people. Later, Abedin met with President and CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of Niko Resources at the Energy Division meeting along with the Energy Secretary to resolve pending issues.
Rexwood-Oakland
Petrobangla was later allegedly involved in a non-bid negotiation with US Based joint venture of Oakland-Rexwood, the latter stating that it would invest $60 million.In 1998 and 1999, Enron Corporation was also selected for the blocks alongside Oakland, where Enron proposed 80 percent share for themselves, and the rest for Oakland. The High Court of Bangladesh, placed a ban on signing any Production sharing agreement
Production sharing agreement
Production sharing agreements are a common type of contract signed between a government and a resource extraction company concerning how much of the resource extracted from the country each will receive....
with any international oil company in December 2001, the same year that Enron Corporation went bankrupt for the Enron scandal
Enron scandal
The Enron scandal, revealed in October 2001, eventually led to the bankruptcy of the Enron Corporation, an American energy company based in Houston, Texas, and the dissolution of Arthur Andersen, which was one of the five largest audit and accountancy partnerships in the world...
. Production sharing agreement
Production sharing agreement
Production sharing agreements are a common type of contract signed between a government and a resource extraction company concerning how much of the resource extracted from the country each will receive....
head, Abedin outright rejected the notion, saying it was just a visit to the National Energy Sector, adding that they did not have a specific proposal. The Oakland-Rexwood blocks were later operated by Tullow Oil.
Water Board Authority and Development
After Petrobangla, Abedin was made the Managing Director of the Dhaka Water and Sewerage AuthorityWater supply and sanitation in Bangladesh
Water supply and sanitation in Bangladesh is characterized by a number of achievements and challenges. The share of the population with access to an improved water source was estimated at 98% in 2004, a very high level for a low-income country. This has been achieved to a large extent through the...
(WASA), by the military backed Government of Bangladesh
Caretaker government of Bangladesh
The Caretaker Government of Bangladesh is a form of government system in which the country is ruled by a selected government for an interim period during transition from one government to another, after the completion tenure of the former. As the outgoing government hands over their power, the...
, allegedly because of his military ties. He was given charge of the sector when ammonia
Ammonia
Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . It is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent odour. Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to food and fertilizers. Ammonia, either directly or...
and other impurities concentration were severely high, which resulted in him taking an initiative to set a pre-treatment plant for controlling the ammonia concentration. It was to be supervised by Danish International Development Agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and its overseas representations are in charge of Denmark's foreign affairs...
of the Kingdom of Denmark
Kingdom of Denmark
The Kingdom of Denmark or the Danish Realm , is a constitutional monarchy and sovereign state consisting of Denmark proper in northern Europe and two autonomous constituent countries, the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic and Greenland in North America. Denmark is the hegemonial part, where the...
and funded by Asian Development Bank
Asian Development Bank
The Asian Development Bank is a regional development bank established on 22 August 1966 to facilitate economic development of countries in Asia...
. He also talked about the World Bank
World Bank
The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...
funded sewage treatment facility that improves water conditions.
The national board was already on the deep end of the water shortage, by at least 350 million L, with the demand for the Metropolitan capital of Dhaka
Dhaka
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...
being around 2 billion L. The national electricity crisis
Energy crisis
An energy crisis is any great bottleneck in the supply of energy resources to an economy. In popular literature though, it often refers to one of the energy sources used at a certain time and place, particularly those that supply national electricity grids or serve as fuel for vehicles...
of the power grid was a major problem, as due to low voltage
Voltage
Voltage, otherwise known as electrical potential difference or electric tension is the difference in electric potential between two points — or the difference in electric potential energy per unit charge between two points...
and frequent black outs, maximum capacity could not be delivered.
Health issues became a concern, once researchers and studies found that various chemical concentrations were found to be ten times higher than the standards set by World Health Organization
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations that acts as a coordinating authority on international public health. Established on 7 April 1948, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, the agency inherited the mandate and resources of its predecessor, the Health...
. This, according to the board was due to the disposal of industrial effluents that no government board monitored regularly at the time.
In 2008, the online billing system was introduced for the utility board and it heralded mixed signals from the citizens mainly because of spotty Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
services and in 2009, WASA increased water tariff by 20 percent, only after a month after a five percent increase in tariff. He said that it was due to frequent power outage, which is why pumps have to be often ran by generators, which is contributing to a rise in water lifting cost.
By mid 2009, the water crisis was so large and widespread, that WASA decided to transport tanks of water on trucks to major areas of the capital. Earlier the same month, he said that "due to dependence on deep tube wells, water layers in the city are dropping around three metres a year on average" about the excessive use of underground water of the capital through around a thousand illegal deep tube wells, and filling up of low-lying land, canals and water bodies are causing the underground water level to drop alarmingly. Various researchers say that this could put the citizens in severe water crisis in the future and also cause land to subside. As a result, the capital
Dhaka
Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka Division. Dhaka is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the banks of the Buriganga River, Dhaka, along with its metropolitan area, had a population of over 15 million in 2010, making it the largest city...
braced for one of their history's worst water logging problems, that Abedin believed was resulted from unauthorized buildings being built on land filled up from ponds and lakes. He also brought attention to more than a 100,000 illegal links in the national water supply network which costs the nation around Tk 350 million a year.
Before his resignation from the post, Abedin proposed the government to take measures to use the alternative sources of water like rainwater, constructing sufficient water reservoir
Water reservoir
A reservoir , artificial lake or dam is used to store water.Reservoirs may be created in river valleys by the construction of a dam or may be built by excavation in the ground or by conventional construction techniques such as brickwork or cast concrete.The term reservoir may also be used to...
around the capital and setting up of wastewater
Wastewater
Wastewater is any water that has been adversely affected in quality by anthropogenic influence. It comprises liquid waste discharged by domestic residences, commercial properties, industry, and/or agriculture and can encompass a wide range of potential contaminants and concentrations...
and effluent treatment plants.
Resignation
On April 8, 2009, Abedin resigned from his position and a Joint Secretary from the Ministry of Local Government Rural Development (LGRD) of Bangladesh was a temporary replacement for him, before the newly elected government chose another suitor.
The new government filed a case that had Abedin allegedly occupying a state palatial residence, corruption and nepotism in appointment, promotion and transfer; unauthorized use of various official cars; use of staff for personal purposes. He also allegedly hired 331 employees with bribes, all from his ancestral region, Comilla. In addition, two deputy managing directors out of four, two additional chief engineers, two out of ten superintending engineers and most of those on muster roll were also from Comilla.
In response, Abedin said that according to the WASA Act of 1996, he is entitled to live in the palatial complex, as he took initiatives during the caretaker government to retrieve a six bigha
Bigha
The bigha is a unit of measurement of area of a land, commonly used in Nepal, Bangladesh and in a few states of India including Uttaranchal, Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Assam, Gujarat, Rajasthan etc. The precise size of a bigha appears to vary considerably...
palatial house of WASA in Gulshan, which had been rented out to people without any legal authority. "A government residential house cannot be rented out," he added.
After Abedin resigned, the charges disappeared. He concluded by saying "A certain group influenced some of media people to publish baseless reports about me with a malicious intention."