8 government officials going to the US to learn how to operate ACs

❐ Staff Reporter

Eight top officials of the Public Works Department are going to the United States to receive training on the management of central air conditioning systems. The new date of their visit has been set for March 15. The date of the visit was previously set several times, but was later changed.

In 2019, the Awami League government undertook a project to establish full-fledged cancer, kidney and heart disease treatment centers in eight divisional cities of the country. This foreign tour is part of the ‘Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) System Training’ program of that project.

Eight government officials are going to the United States to participate in this training. However, all their travel expenses will be borne by the US-based central air conditioning system company Dunham-Bush.

The officials who have been granted permission to visit the United States are: Additional Chief Engineer (E/M) of the Public Works Department Ashraful Haque, Additional Chief Engineer (Civil) Kazi Md. Firoz Hossain, Project Director Dr. Md. Toufiq Hasan Firoz, Supervising Engineer Dr. Md. Ashraful Islam, Deputy Secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Public Works Md. Nazmul Alam, Executive Engineer Raju Ahmed, Executive Architect Siddika Nasrin Sultana and Sub-Divisional Engineer Risalat Bari.

According to sources from the Public Works Department, on February 3, seven officials of the department, including the project director, sought permission to travel abroad for training on AC management.

The letter mentioned that they would be going to the United States to participate in a training program titled ‘Safety Facilities, Operation and Maintenance Management of HVAC Systems’.

The visit was initially scheduled for five days from February 8 to 12, with travel time set aside. However, the visit did not materialize at that time.

Later, approval was obtained for the second round of visits from February 25th to March 1st, but they were unable to go during that period either. The ministry finally granted permission for the eight officials to travel abroad on March 4th.

According to the new decision, they will stay in the United States from March 15 to 19 to participate in training on air conditioning management.

Raju Ahmed, executive engineer of the Public Works Department, said, “After the construction work is completed, the responsibility of operating and maintaining the HVAC system will be on us. Therefore, training is being provided in this regard.”

In this regard, Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department Md. Khalequzzaman Chowdhury said that receiving this training from the United States is important for engineers and will be helpful in managing projects in the future.