Rajuk moves to ink final deal with Malaysia

Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) has initiated the process of reaching a final agreement with the Malaysian authorities to implement its largest apartment project at Uttara residential model town, project insiders said.
They said the city development authority has already prepared a draft of the master agreement and sent it to its Malaysian counterpart for getting their consent to the important housing project which is believed to play a key role in providing accommodation for a large number of families with modern facilities.
The move came in line with an instruction of the cabinet committee on public purchase, they added.
In its meeting last month, the purchase committee advised the Rajuk to do so before getting final approval from the government.
"We've sent the draft of the master agreement to the Malaysian government few days ago as per the purchase committee's instructions. And they would soon visit Bangladesh after studying the draft as informed in an immediate response," a senior Rajuk official told the FE.
After reaching the final agreement, the project will be once again placed to the purchase committee for getting its nod as the committee earlier approved the project in principle, he said.
The city development authority has almost completed all kinds of preparations overcoming the massive odds it faced due to negligence of the previous company in the construction work that led to cancellation of the contract with a joint venture company, ENA-DUNGA, last year.
When contacted, Rajuk Chief Engineer Md. Hafizur Rahman Munshi said a total of 8,400 flats will be built in Block B and Block C with financial and technical assistance from the Malaysian government under G2G (government-to-government) basis while local company will construct 6,636 flats in Block A under the scheme involving Tk 53 billion.
Citing the project, he said the Malaysian government would complete those flats within 30 months of the construction and they would start taking the construction expenses from 30 to 42 months of the construction.
The successful applicants would have to book their flats with 40-45 per cent down payment and the rest of payments need to be cleared in four-year instalments.
"After the down payment, the flat owners will have the facility of bank finance as several commercial banks, including some private ones, have already shown their interest in this regard," he added.
Speaking on the issue, Naim Ahmed Khan, member (development) of Rajuk, said they have almost completed the formalities as the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved the project in principle.
"We're very much hopeful of getting the approval from the purchase committee by this month (April)," he said, adding that a large number of the apartments will be handed over to middle and low income groups.
The apartments will be constructed on Industrialised Building System (IBS), he said, adding that 1,250 square foot (sq ft) and 1,050 sq ft flats will be built to accommodate the people who have no house in the city.
Mr. Khan, also a joint secretary level official, said the buildings will have facilities like solar panel, rainwater harvesting and Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) to make those environment-friendly.
Seeking anonymity, an engineer who has become involved in the project said they have planned to invite fresh applications from people after getting approval for 9,000-plus flats as nearly 6,000 apartments will be kept ready for successful applicants who applied earlier.
About the apartment prices, he said the price for per square feet (sq ft) was fixed at Tk 4,500 for the flats which would be built by the Malaysian government.
According to the calculation, the price for a 1,250 sq ft flat will stand at Tk 5.62 million while an apartment of 1,050 sq ft at Tk 4.72 million.
While the prices for the flats in Block A to be built by Rajuk and Department of Public Works would be quite lesser, but the prices have not been fixed yet, he added.
He said a number of local companies have participated in the tender to construct 6,636 flats in Block A which were earlier awarded to ENA-DUNGA.
jubairfe1980@gmail.com