Mismanagement, unchecked spending throw Al-Nahyan Trust into financial trouble

The Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al-Nahyan Trust (Bangladesh), a charity for the welfare of orphans in the country, is reeling from a financial crisis brought about by years of unchecked spending without the necessary income to balance the books.

It last underwent an audit 10 years ago, a parliamentary probe into the trust revealed.

The findings were outlined in a recent report by a three strong sub-panel formed by the parliamentary standing committee on the Social Welfare Ministry in July last year.  

The Al-Nahyan Trust was established on Jun 22, 1984, when the then president of the United Arab Emirates Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan expressed interest in working for the welfare of orphans after a visit to Bangladesh.

The trust is supervised by the Social Welfare Ministry.

It started out with a $50,000 fund from UAE and later built several residential apartments and a shopping complex in Banani, from which it derives all its income.

As per the agreement with the UAE, Bangladesh would allocate land for the organisation while the Gulf nation would bear the costs of building infrastructure and management. However, the trust has no record of how much funding it has received from the UAE until now.

The two orphanages operated by the trust in Mirpur and Lalmonirhat are also plagued by mismanagement, the probe found. Financial constraints have meant that the Lalmonirhat orphanage, which has the capacity to house 200 children, has only 130 residents while 108 children are sheltered in Mirpur.

The orphanage in Mirpur was set up in 1987 followed by the one in Lalmonirhat in 1993. The trust's expenditure escalated since it established the Mirpur High School leading to financial losses since 2006. The school was given more than Tk 20 million in subsidies until 2018.

The Lalmonirhat orphanage is built on five acres of land and the Mirpur orphanage on 2.70 acres. There are 18 apartments in Banani and the UAE Shopping Complex registered under the trust. Tenants of two of these apartments are paying Tk 30,000 per month as rent instead of the amount fixed by the trust after filing cases against it in the High Court.

The trust covers all its expenses with the rent it collects from 60 shops in the shopping complex and the 18 apartments.

However, the trust did not provide a clear response to the committee's queries about its funds, assets and financial accounts.

The last audit report in Al Nahyan Trust's possession was for the 2005-06 fiscal year. It showed that audits were ‘ongoing’ for the following years.

The trust could not provide specific information on how much financial aid it has received from the UAE government, said an official in the parliament secretariat.

In its report, the parliamentary sub-committee noted that the trust has a weak audit trail, lacking any management report and consolidated audit report.

“The trust had many flaws in its overall management which resulted in the irregularities. The situation will improve if the recommendations are implemented,” the sub-committee's Convener Badruddoza Md Farhad told bdnews24.com.

The committee recommended the appointment of a first class audit firm and appropriate measures against those responsible for the lack of any inspection of its account over the last decade.

The sub-committee recommended the appointment of a new executive director for a three-year term.

KBM Omar Faruk Chowdhury has served as the executive director of the trust since 2012 before retiring recently. But he still continues to perform his duties as executive director in accordance with a verbal order.

But Omar refused to comment on the findings of the probe when contacted by bdnews24.com. "I will present my take through the relevant documents," he said.