Khalilur Rahman Sale of plots in unauthorised housing projects in and around Dhaka city continues unabated. An exclusive report by one of the special correspondents of the Financial Express and published in the issue of the FE on October 15 last, says that several fake real estate companies after realising payments against plots in illegal housing projects disappeared. The report further says that many buyers are not getting possession of their plots though they have paid full amount and signed the deeds with the companies concerned. There has been an alarming rise in cheating in the real estate sector in recent times. A large number of victims have registered complaints with the Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB) and various police stations in last couple of months, the FE report says. The fake companies attract buyers through publishing advertisements of dream land projects. The situation is no better in the case of flats. Thousands of buyers have failed to get their flats even after making full payment against those. The REHAB is now dealing with 120 complaints lodged by buyers' against realtors for adopting fraudulent means in selling plots and flats. The Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK), the lone city development authority, has failed to protect the buyers of plots and flats against cheating by a section of realtors. As we reported earlier in this column, the RAJUK could not even stop sale of plots in unauthorised land projects at the REHAB fair about one and a half years ago, despite its earlier announcement to do so. The RAJUK sent its representatives to the fair to check the sale of such plots. But to the surprise of many, at one stage, the RAJUK withdrew its representatives as the REHAB authority did not take action against unapproved land projects as per RAJUK list. Later, the RAJUK filed a General Diary (GD) against 41 real estate companies for violating housing laws by undertaking illegal land projects with the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station. The GD was filed at the fag end of the fair when a good number of plots were already sold and the police could not take any action. Why the RAJUK did not file the complaint at the start of the fair is a matter that agitates public mind. It is also surprising how the plots in the projects, not approved by the RAJUK, could be put on sale through wide publicity by the housing companies. Experts and a section of conscious citizens have been demanding for long that the RAJUK should concentrate more on regulatory issues and give up its role as a state-owned developer for the sake of planned growth of Dhaka city. They say that inefficiency and rampant corruption have turned the RAJUK into a non-functional body which always remains busy with land development like a housing company. The RAJUK should be restructured, they viewed. It is unable to play its due role as it has to satisfy the influential people in the society. Therefore, President of Bangladesh Institute of Planners, Professor Sarwar Jahan, had suggested formation of a supreme authority to supervise the development works by various agencies in Dhaka city. Under the circumstances, stern action must be taken against those housing companies who are selling plots in unauthorized land projects to protect innocent buyers from cheating. The RAJUK must release the full list of unapproved land projects and launch campaign to create mass awareness about it so that people do not fall prey to greedy developers. And this should be done under specific laws. On the other hand, amid the collapse or tilting of a number of high-rise buildings in Dhaka city and elsewhere in the country due to construction faults in recent times, the need for a national institute to enforce building code can hardly be overemphasised. For lack of proper supervision by the RAJUK that has been facing acute staff shortage and other logistics, the building code is followed more in violation than compliance. The size of Dhaka city has expanded considerably over the years making it all the more difficult for the RAJUK to supervise the construction of all structures, particularly high-rise buildings. The developers are found running after profit and not safety of the buildings they are constructing. We strongly believe that the situation will improve considerably if the RAJUK performs its assigned duty with sincerity and honesty. (e-mail: khalilbdh @gmail.com)
Dealing with illegal housing projects
FE Team | Published: October 20, 2013 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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