The
country’s first high-speed road, Dhaka Elevated Expressway is being constructed
between the Airport-Moghbazar-Jatrabari. Bangladesh Bridge Authority, the
project implementing agency, has constructed 1344 flats in Dhaka’s Uttara
residential area to rehabilitate people who have lost their land due to the
construction of this 20 km long flyover.
In
line with the flat allotment policy of the project, people who are truly
affected by the Dhaka Elevated Expressway project can apply for a flat
allotment. But, after the completion of the flats, the authority has decided to
revise this policy. In the revised policy, Bangladesh Bridge Authority and
their officials will be eligible for allotment of the flats. In Section 2,
Paragraph 1 of the policy said that in the Rehabilitation Village of Dhaka
Elevated Expressway Project, only those affected by land acquisition for the
Dhaka Elevated Expressway Project can apply for allotment of flats.
In
the proposed amendment, people affected by land acquisition for the Dhaka Elevated
Expressway project can apply for allotment of flats. Later, according to the
priority and the availability, Bangladesh Bridge Authority officials-employees
can apply for the remaining flats that can be allotted through open notice. The
Bridge authorities and Bridge Department officials will be eligible to get the
flats if the proposed amendment is approved.
Dr.
Iftekharuzzaman, Executive Director of Transparency International Bangladesh
(TIB) mentioned the initiative to amend the flat allotment policy as a
'violation of policy' and said to Bonik Barta, "Such incidents are
disappointing. But I do not see anything surprising about it. Government
officials-employees are already enjoying a lot of opportunities. But these
flats made for the affected people should only be allocated to those who are
affected by such project.”
“This
policy has not been finalized and further review is ongoing,” Md Manjur
Hossain, Secretary of the Government's Bridge Department and Executive Director
of Bangladesh Bridge Authority said to Bonik Barta.
He
said that no decision has been taken so far regarding giving flats to
government officials in the last 114th board meeting of the Bridge Authority on
June 25.
“Flats
are being allocated to the victims of other projects as part of new
initiatives. This change is not only based on the number of people affected by
the elevated expressway project but also on the opportunity to provide flats to
victims of other projects.”
These
flats have been constructed at Barkakar, Baunia, and Digun Mouja adjacent to
Uttara Model Town. A ‘Rehabilitation Village’ has been built to fulfill this
purpose.
The
constructed 1344 flats are divided into two blocks in 12 buildings where each
building has 14 floors. Flats of Block A have an area of 1,294 square feet. The
price of each flat including parking facilities has been fixed at BDT 5.414 million.
Excluding parking facilities, the flats will cost BDT 5.114 million. The flats
constructed in Block B have an area of 1,090 square feet. The price of each
flat including parking facilities has been fixed at BDT 4.344 million. The
fixed price of the flats without parking facilities is BDT 4.044 Million.
According
to the information of the Bridge authority, in the Rehabilitation Village of
the Dhaka Elevated Expressway project, various infrastructural constructions
including schools, mosques, community centers, community markets, community
clinics, playgrounds, sewage treatment plants, secondary transfer stations,
electrical sub-stations, internal roads, drains, deep tube wells have been
constructed. In total, the construction cost of the Rehabilitation Village is
about 8 billion . These flats have been created through a separate project
called ‘Support to Dhaka Elevated Expressway’.
The
Bridge Authority has received 261 applications till now for the allocation of
1,344 flats. In response, efforts are being made to assign the remaining flats
to individuals affected by different projects, including officials and
employees of the Bridge Department and Bangladesh Bridge Authority.
Dr.
Shamsul Hoque, Professor of the Civil Engineering Department of BUET who also
worked as a consultant on the project said to Bonik Barta that, there are not
many people affected by the project and small amount of private property has
been acquired by the government. But he added, before building flats proper
assessment was needed.
According
to the information of Bangladesh Bridge Authority, the Dhaka Elevated
Expressway project required 205.86 acres of land, with 176.84 acres being
government-owned, mainly by Bangladesh Railways, and 29.02 acres privately
owned.
Badiul
Alam Majumder, Secretary of Citizens for Good Governance-
SHUJAN, a non-partisan citizen’s platform thinks that the
initiative to allocate the flats to the Bridge Authority and Bridge Department
officials has created a ‘Conflict of Interest’ for the two institutions. In
this regard, he told Bonik Barta, ‘This policy has been made under the Bridge
Department. They have an important role in the project. And the changes they are
making in the policy are only for their own benefit. This is not acceptable in
any way. It is corruption to misuse these rules and procedures to serve their
own interests. Action should be taken against those who are involved in the
initiative to change the policy.”