Housing Minister warns negligent parties of action

Sits with RAJUK officials


FE Report | Published: April 01, 2019 00:14:29


Housing Minister warns negligent parties of action

Housing minister SM Rezaul Karim said on Sunday the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) would take action against owners and developers of unapproved buildings.
Even Rajuk would not spare its errant officials for neglecting their official duties, he warned.
Mr Karim said investigators would identify who were on duty during the approval of the building plan of FR Tower and violations of rules during its construction.
He criticised weaknesses in disaster preparedness of disaster management ministry and fire service department as many lives were lost in Banani fire.
The minister's comments came at a press briefing after a meeting with Rajuk employees on the irregularities and violations of building rules on the Rajuk premises.
He also warned of demolishing the buildings which have been constructed in violation of the existing rules.
Mr Karim said 24 enquiry teams would work from Monday to find irregularities in constructing the buildings.
The teams will primarily identify multi-storey buildings and prepare a list of the structures built without follow building rules by the next 15 days.
They will also find out the Rajuk inspectors, authorised officers and other staff members for the dereliction of their official duties.
Mr Karim said, "We hope the list will be prepared before 15 days. We'll make it public through print and electronic media as advertisements to show the people behind violations."
It was not mandatory to keep parking or fire safety in the buildings constructed between 1996 and 2008.
Rajuk would decide afresh to implement the same rule for those buildings, he added.
"This time, Rajuk won't be satisfied by serving notices on errant building owners only…," the minister said.
"There are some missing records regarding plots. We'll prepare new ones for those within the next one month."
Defending Rajuk from being blamed solely, Mr Karim said it happens for lack of coordination in Rajuk.
"Disaster management ministry and fire service department are not under my ministry. What we saw in Banani fire clearly suggested a lot of preparations for disaster."
Referring to the falling of pieces of glass or people from a blazing house, Mr Karim said there was not even a net to protect them.
This means it requires a lot of preparation for disaster management, he uttered.
FR Tower at Banani caught fire last Thursday. The raging inferno killed 26 people and burned dozens.

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