Mohammadpur govt flat project going on at a snail’s pace

Progress of the government apartment construction project in the city's Mohammadpur area for the limited income people has been going on at a snail's pace than the projects for the government officials at Mirpur and Lalmatia.

During a visit by Housing Minister Eng Mosharraf Hossain at the three projects Wednesday, it was revealed that only 37 per cent construction of the Mohammadpur project is completed.

The government will spend Tk 3.06 billion for the project, under which a total of 900 apartments in 15 buildings will be constructed there.

The progress of other two apartment projects at Lalmatia and Mirpur was 97 per cent and 96 per cent respectively. The government will construct 178 flats in two buildings at Lalmatia and 360 flats in six buildings at a cost of nearly Tk 971 million and Tk 1.54 billion respectively.

Starting in 2008, the apartments have been allotted among the applicants through lottery.

The government expects to hand over the flats at Lalmatia and Mirpur to the allottees within the next six months. But the handing over of the flats at Mohammadpur could take several years more.

The minister was informed that legal complications regarding five buildings were mainly the reason behind the sluggish progress of the Mohammadpur project, for which the construction work of those buildings has been halted.

The authority is trying to settle the cases as soon as possible, and the construction of other buildings is going on in full swing.

During the visit, housing secretary Golam Rabbani and National Housing Authority chairman Shahidullah Khandaker were present, among others.