TDS Desk:

Allegation has been raised that Secretaries acquired flats on govt land at a nominal price during the Awami League regime for their personal interest.

Secretaries from various government ministries were on the board of a state-run organisation. As board members, they approved the construction of flats on land acquired with government funds. The project is being financed using project funds. These secretaries have then had those flats allotted to themselves at exceptionally low prices.

It happened with the Bangladesh Bridges Authorities (BBA). Over time, secretaries who served on the BBA’s board of directors not only acquired flats themselves but also facilitated allocations to influential bureaucrats during the previous Awami League government.

A total of 32 individuals, including secretaries and officials holding equivalent ranks, received flats. Among them, four are currently in service, while two of them have joined the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) after their retirements at the behest of the government. The remaining is on retirement.

Apart from the secretaries, the government officials who received flats include additional secretaries, joint secretaries and deputy secretaries. Officials close to former bridges minister Obaidul Quader, including his personal secretary, acquired flats at incredibly cheap prices.

Taking decisions from within the board of a state-run organisation to serve personal interests is an abuse of state power, said Dr Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB). Speaking to Prothom Alo, he described the matter as a clear act of misconduct.

Among the officials who acquired flat this way are – former cabinet secretaries Khandker Anwarul Islam and Mahbub Hossain, former Bangladesh Bank governor Abdur Rouf Talukder, former principal secretary to the prime minister Ahmad Kaikaus, and Tofazzel Hossain Miah are among the recipients. Former election commissioner and ex-secretary Anisur Rahman also received a flat. All of them were known to be trusted and influential bureaucrats during the past three terms under the rule of the deposed Awami League government.

These flats for the secretaries are being constructed in the capital’s Uttara. The plots used for this were originally acquired for the people displaced for the Elevated Expressway Project.

On 20 May, a site visit revealed a large open space in front of the under-construction building “allotted” for the secretaries. A large reservoir lies nearby, creating an overall pleasant environment. The buildings are being constructed with considerable distance between them to ensure ample light and ventilation.

The Dhaka Elevated Expressway project was undertaken in 2010 under public-private partnerships (PPP). The expressway connecting the airport with Kutubkhali in Jatrabari is being constructed under this.

Under another project, 40 acres of land were acquired in Barkankar, Baunia, and Digun mouzas of Uttara Model Town (third phase) to build a ‘rehabilitation village’ for those whose land was acquired for this project. On that land, 1,344 flats are being constructed in 12 buildings to accommodate the affected people.

A total of four buildings are under construction on 1.15 acres of the lands purchased for the affected people. Three of these are for the secretaries and top officials. There are 168 flats in total in the three buildings. So far 140 of those flats have been allocated while the rest are being considered to be allotted for the secretaries and officials in the future. The three buildings have been named as Padma, Meghna and Jamuna.

There is also a primary list of which flat each official will receive. Bridges Division sources say the size of the land used for the three buildings, including the open space in the front, is approximately 4 acres.

One the four buildings has been kept for the BBA employees. There are 112 flats in that building.

The officials who acquired these flats also have plots allotted by the Rajhdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK). They acquired both government plots and flats in Dhaka while holding a government post.

Speaking regarding this to Prothom Alo, road transport and bridges adviser Faozul Kabir Khan said, “There are no options to take and facility of personal benefit while in a government post. If it is the case, then it will definitely be investigated. Any unethical advantages obtained will be revoked.

FLAT PRICES

The flats are being constructed in Uttara Sector -18. The project site has fallen in the Diabari area. Right next to it is RAJUK’s Uttara Apartment project. The roads in the area are wide with the metro rail station next to the project site.

The buildings are solidly built with attractive designs, featuring wide roads and ample open spaces. In contrast, the flats for the affected people are cramped closely with minimal spacing.

This correspondent contacted a recognised construction agency to assume the price per square feet of flats with enough space with ample light and ventilation in Uttara.

Seeking anonymity, an official of the agency told Prothom Alo a reputed real estate company would price it at Tk 12,000-15,000 per square feet for a flat there. As such, the price of a 1600-square-foot flat would be Tk 19.2 million to Tk 24 million.

The bridges division said the price of the 1,600-square-foot flats, allotted for the secretaries and government officials, has been estimated at Tk 6 million each. The flats allotted for employees are comparatively small (around 1,200 square feet) with an estimated price of Tk 4.5 million. The allottees have paid instalments ranging from Tk 175,000 to Tk 375,000.

The size of the flats constructed for affected people range from 1,100 square feet to 1,300 square feet. The estimated price of these flats varies from Tk 4.5 million to Tk 5.4 million, depending on the size. It means the secretaries have acquired flats

In other words, the secretaries have received better-built flats at nearly the same price as those allotted to the affected people. Moreover, they have the option to pay in instalments under relaxed conditions.

The buildings for the secretaries are also being constructed under the rehabilitation project for the affected named ‘Support to Dhaka Elevated Expressway PPP Project’, which was taken up in October, 2011. Primarily, the project cost was estimated at Tk 32.17 billion, with a deadline to finish it in 2014. However, it wasn’t the case. The project cost has increased to Tk 49.18 billion lately. The project is going to end by next month after several deadline extensions.

The affected people received the compensations for their home and land separately. In addition, an initiative was taken to provide flats at low prices for their rehabilitation. That’s why the land acquisition and rehabilitation project was undertaken. The rehabilitation village has various facilities including mosques, community centres, community market, community clinic, playgrounds, internal link roads, drain, and deep tube well.

THOSE WHO ACQUIRED THE FLATS

The Bridges Division is an independent state agency. It is run by a 15-member board. The chairman of the board is the minister or adviser of the Road Transport and Bridges Ministry by default. The remaining 14 members are secretaries from various ministries. Among them, the same individual holds the dual role of secretary to the Bridges Division and executive director of the Bridges Authorities.

The secretaries of the defence ministry, Roads And Highways division, home ministry, Power Division, land ministry, water resources ministry, Finance Division, Economic Relations Division, Legislative and Parliamentary Affairs Division, the member of the Physical Infrastructure Division of the Planning Commission, Energy and Mineral Resources ministry, and the rail ministry serve as members of the Bridge Authority’s board of directors by virtue of their post.

Bridges Division sources say the flat construction project for the secretaries and government officials got policy approval in the 107th board meeting of the Bridges Authorities held on 31 May 2018. All the then board members and those who came in later acquired flats under the project they gave approval. It was said in the meeting that some of the lands under the project remained unused after the construction of the rehabilitation village. There is no other way to utilise the lands. Under this context, the initiative to construct flats for government officials and employees was undertaken in compliance with the National Housing Policy.

However, there is no such provision to grant government officials flats in the existing Bridges Authorities Act. There are also allegations that the extra land was acquired intentionally to make room flats for the officials themselves on the project site.

Khandker Anwarul Islam, Belayet Hossain, Abu Bakar Siddique, Manzur Hossain, and Fahimul Islam (now railways secretary) have all served as secretary and executive director of the Bridges Division since the beginning of the in 2018. Each of them acquired a flat in the buildings constructed on land acquired for the Elevated Expressway compensation project. The current secretary, Abdur Rouf, took office on 26 February and has not taken any flat yet.

Relevant sources say the initiative to allocate flats for government officials on project land was taken at the behest of former cabinet secretary Khondaker Anwarul Islam when he was in the Bridges Division. It was him, who allotted flats for pro-AL and influential bureaucrats and people close to former minister Obaidul Quader. Following that, he was promoted as the cabinet secretary. He allegedly influenced flat-allocation among government officials even after leaving the bridges division.

Since the fall of the Awami League government in the wake of the July Uprising last year, Khondaker Anwarul has been sued in several cases. He has not been seen in public. Attempts to contact him were unsuccessful as his mobile phone was switched off.

Among other secretaries and government officials at equivalent rank who acquired the flats include Najmul Ahsan, Md Moinul Kabir, Fatima Yasmin, Sharifa Khan (currently alternate executive director at the World Bank), Habibur Rahman, Humayun Kabir, Golam Mohammad Hasibul Alam, A B M Amin Ullah Nuri, Aminul Islam Khan, Abu Hena Mostafa Kamal, Mamun Al Rashid, Mohammad Emdad Ullah Mian (incumbent agriculture secretary), Selim Reza, Mohammad Shahidul Haque, Kazi Shafiqul Azam, Jafar Ahmed Khan, Abdul Jalil, Juena Aziz, Nazrul Islam, Mohammad Muslim Chowdhury, and Mofazzel Hossain.

Former railway ministry secretary Selim Reza also served as the senior assignment official of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina. He was made a member of the National Human Rights Commission after retirement.

Asked about flat acquisition, he said the Bridges Division allocated the flat for him lawfully.

Obaidul Quader served as the road transport and bridges minister for more than a decade during the almost 16-year-rule of the Awami League. Shafiqul Karim and Gautam Chandra Pal, who served as Obaidul Quader’s personal secretary, also have received flats. Besides, flats have been allocated for Abul Taher Mohammad Mahidul Haque, assistant PS to the then minister, his personal assistants Matin Hawladar and Jahangir Kabir; and Abu Naser and Sheikh Walid Fayez, the public relations officials of the ministry.

The then Bridges Division secretary Khondaker Anwarul Islamm’s bodyguard constable Shariful Islam too has received a flat in the building allotted to government employees.

Officials from several ministries—including public administration, finance, defence, home, and land—as well as from IMED (a body under the planning ministry) and the office of the Dhaka deputy commissioner have also received flats without being members of the Bridges Division board.

Bridges Division sources say there might be still some empty flats after allocating the affected people. There are efforts to allocate those flats for the government officials and employees too. So the previous Awami League government took initiative to amend the flat allocation policy during the last few months of their rule, however could not finish it.

EXCESS LAND ACQUISITION

The Bridges Authorities figure shows around 206 acres of land were acquired in total for the Dhaka Elevated Expressway Project, including 177 acres of land owned by the government, mostly by the railways. Only 29 acres of land were privately owned. However, the area of land acquired to rehabilitate them is nearly 40 acres.

Speaking to the locals, it has been learnt the estimated price of each decimal land stands at Tk 13 million to Tk 15 million in the third phase of the RAJUK Uttara Apartment Project. As such, the price of the 115 decimals of land allotted to government officials’ flats stands at nearly Tk 1.5 billion, which means they have acquired this land almost free of cost.

Before this, the RAJUK and the National Housing Authority constructed flats in different parts of the city including Uttara and distributed them through lotteries which were open for all. However, the flats constructed under the Bridges Authority project are allotted for government officials only.

Sources in the top echelons of the Bridges Division said the Castle Construction, owned by former AL lawmaker Kazi Nabil Ahmed, is the contractor of the project for government officials and employees. There is a Tk 900-million-contract with the company for the construction of the three buildings. The construction of the other building in the project is yet to start.

Speaking to Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity, several Bridges Authority officials say they don’t get any government housing facilities. They do not have post retirement facilities as much as government officials from other ministries and divisions. It would be appropriate had the flats been distributed among them. There are also cases where administration cadre officials get flat allocation serving at the Bridges Division for less than even two months. Besides, many officials and bureaucrats, who are not relevant to the Bridges Division, received flats just for being influential in the government.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, TIB executive director Iftekharuzzaman said, “In the past, the bureaucracy has collectively secured various government benefits. The current government must thoroughly investigate the entire matter and ensure exemplary punishment for those liable.”

THE ‘NEVER-ENDING’ ELEVATED EXPRESSWAY PROJECT

The Dhaka Elevated Expressway Project under public-private partnership in 2018 to connect the airport with Kutubkhali along the Dhaka-Chattogram highway. The project has not been finished even after 15 years.

Project director AHM Shakhawat Akhter told Prothom Alo on 21 May that the investing agency had said they would start the work from June.

Meanwhile, the project was stalled for a long time due to the dispute between China-based Shandong and Sinohydro and Thailand’s Italian Thai over shares in the First Dhaka Elevated Expressway (FDEE) Company Limited.

Initially, the three companies had 34 per cent, 15 per cent and 51 per cent share respectively. Now the share stands at 80, 19 and 1 per cent respectively following a legal complication that the Italian Thai could not overcome.

FDEE Company Limited project coordinator Misbahil Mokar Rabin told Prothom Alo they could not work due to several limitations over the last six months. Now the government has asked them to resume the project. The works will start by the end of June.

The Dhaka Elevated Expressway is nearly 20 kilometres long. The airport to Tejgaon stretch of the expressway was opened for all in September 2023. The Karwan Bazar exit ramp was launched in March last year. The estimated cost for the project is Tk 89.4 billion. However, the people are deprived of its intended benefits due to delay in its completion. Source: Prothom Alo