Housing and Public Works Minister Engineer Mosharraf Hossain turned down Sunday local realtors' plea for revising the government decision to build 22,000 flats at Uttara and Kamrangirchar in the capital under a joint venture with Malaysia.
The minister also told the realtors that they could participate in building 10,000 flats under the Jhilmil project of the government at Keraniganj in Dhaka.
The government has a plan to build more than 0.1 million flats in the capital. Out of these, 30,000 flats will be built at Keraniganj while 18,000 at Uttara and 62,000 at Purbachal.
"You may participate in building flats in the Jhilmil and Purbachal projects. We welcome your participation," the minister said.
He said that if they (Malaysia) came then there would be a scope for technology transfer here.
"Not only Malaysia, Singapore also has shown interest for building flats. They will come with proven technology. You (Rehab) would be benefited with the new technology," he said.
The minister was holding a meeting with the delegation of Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (Rehab) at the conference room of the ministry at the Bangladesh Secretariat on the day. President of Rehab Mukarram Husain Khan led the 9-member delegation.
Earlier, the government signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Malaysian government for building 22,000 flats in Uttara and Kamrangirchar areas in Dhaka.
Initially, 12,000 flats will be built at Uttara and the rest at Kamrangirchar in Dhaka.
The Rehab president said they (realtors) had been facing financial problems since 22,000 readymade flats remained unsold.
He called upon the government not to allow foreign investment in the sector as the local realtors were now capable of building flats with local experts and could provide those to the people at competitive prices.
"You (REHAB) better meet with the prime minister and finance minister for incentive package that would be helpful for the industry," Mr Hossain said.
The minister urged the realtors to make their flat price competitive so that lower and middle income group of people could purchase it.
He said that the National Housing Authority (NHA) was now able to provide low price flats to the government employees.
The price of per square feet of flat is only Tk 1200 with a 20 years' installment period and 10 per cent service charge.
Mentioning the commitment of the government to provide housing for the people the minister said, "We are determined to ensure planned housing at the rural level with modern facilities".
"We are committed to build flats for the people. It is my dream," the minister mentioned.
‘Govt to go ahead with its plan to build flats in city under JV with Malaysia’
FE Report | Published: May 13, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
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