A total of 11 medical hospital camps have been closed for collecting samples for Covid-19 detection tests at the Rooppur nuclear power plant installation project area in Ishwardi, Pabna on charges of mismanagement, irregularities and misreporting. Since last Monday afternoon, the Civil Surgeon of Pabna has ordered to stop the collection of Covid-19 samples from these 11 camps due to various irregularities.
The closed camps are Famous Specialized Hospital, Universal Medical College and Hospital, AMZ Hospital Limited, Popular Diagnostic Center, DNA Solution Limited, Prime Diagnostic Limited. Besides Dhaka, there are International Medical College and Hospital Gazipur, TMSS Medical College Bogura and Modern Hospital Cumilla.
People in the area said that about 26,000 local and foreign workers worked on the Rooppur nuclear power plant project which is currently under construction in Rooppur. With the approval of the Ministry of Health, camps were set up in the Rooppur project area of those 11 hospitals in the country to collect samples for Covid-19 test every month.
It is alleged that none of the 11 hospitals had the lab in the campsites to test the samples. They collected samples from the workers and sent them to the hospital through various transports. Then the test results were sent from there. For this, the workers had to pay a large sum of money.
It is alleged that the sample collectors were collecting samples of the workers working on the project through irregularities and mismanagement by hanging the camp signboards of these hospitals. Even the collected samples were kept in defective tubes. These samples were not even delivered to the laboratory in time. Due to this, most of the samples were misreported.
According to some RNPP workers, they used to line up and collect samples from the workers. Reports of many workers were changed. They complained that fictitious reports were often given. This has led to an increase in Covid-19 outbreaks in villages around the project area and many people are dying of Covid-19 or with symptoms.
Pabna Civil Surgeon Monisar Chowdhury said that in the RNPP area, subject to the approval of the Ministry of Health, the camps of 11 hospitals engaged in collecting corona samples were carrying out corona sample collection and testing activities with irregularities and mismanagement. The activities of these camps have been stopped as the investigation proved the allegations.
However, he said, the project has a Molecular Lab and Diagnostic Center and a New Green City Hospital in the Green City area. They also have their own testing center (lab). For the time being, these two hospitals will collect corona samples of the workers and employees working in the Rooppur project and will announce the results at the end of the test.