Headed by additional executive director, Ali Hasan, the committee will investigate how such poor quality motorbikes were purchased. DTCB

bought 115 motorbikes last year, imported from China through a local agent. The committee will investigate the matter of how the motorbikes began breaking down less than a year after purchase. Senior enforcement officer, Md Abdul Jalil, and project director, Ashraful Islam, are other members of the committee, sources said.

The new motorbikes were handed over to the city's Traffic Department by DTCB in May 2002, but within six months of their use, traffic sergeants found that the new bikes were falling apart. The sergeants complained of 'great trouble' with the two-wheelers on the city roads, which they often have to repair out of their own pocket. One sergeant who was stalled at the Sonargaon intersection with one of the 'smart new bikes', said that it would have been better for the authorities to provide push-bikes rather than 'such a monstrous problem'.

Each of these motorcycles cost the exchequer Tk 2.5 lakh. The total for the 115 motorbikes was Tk 262.48 crore, purchased through a World Bank loan. Less than a year later, 34 motorbikes were lying inactive in the police workshops at Rajarbagh. Moreover, spare parts are unavailable in this country which prevents them from being repaired.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) sources said, many parts, such as lights and siren became damaged almost immediately. Sources also claim that DTCB bought the bikes without any inspection or checking whether parts were available in the country.