Khalekuzzaman Chowdhury has been appointed as the Acting Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department. He previously served as the Additional Chief Engineer of the same department.
The appointment order was issued on Tuesday (28 October) through a government notification signed by Tasnim Farhana, Secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Public Works, under the authority of the President. The notification states that the order will take effect immediately. At the same time, the current Chief Engineer, Mohammad Shamim Akhtar, has been sent to the reserve.
Shamim Akhtar was appointed Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department in 2020. Prior to this role, he served as the Director General of the House Building Research Institute.
According to department sources, although Shamim Akhtar’s term was scheduled to end in December, he has been placed in the reserve early.
During his tenure, allegations of irregularities were raised against him. Notably, even though irregularities in development and repair projects were proven, no action was taken against the responsible officials, which led to widespread criticism. Additionally, he did not take any measures regarding engineers involved in the murder cases of anti-discrimination student activists, which caused discontent within the department.