The Housing and Public Works Ministry has finally initiated the building of new flats to solve the accommodation crisis of the public servants.
Several high-rise buildings would be constructed on government land in Dhaka and Chittagong city area, demolishing the existing unusable infrastructures.
The decision was made at a meeting of the ministry held at the secretariat with Housing Minister Mosharraf Hossain in the chair.
After the meeting, Housing and Public Works Secretary Golam Rabbani told the Dhaka Tribune that the decision was made to resolve the accommodation crisis of the public servants as the minister was so interested to do it.
The chairmen of Rajuk and National Housing Authority and chief engineer of Public Works Department were given responsibility to suggest places in the two cities for the project, he said.
Until then, the Rajuk will construct a 15-storey building at 20 katha lands in Gulshan area with 1,800 square feet four apartments in each floor. The building will be used for shifting the high level officers who have been living in less standard and unusable buildings.
The chairmen of Rajuk and the NHA and chief engineer of the PWD and chief architect of the Department of Architecture will visit the place in Gulshan.
Later, the ministry will start constructing more buildings in the abandoned government properties and demolishing unusable buildings. It will reduce the existing accommodation crisis, he added.
Replying to a query, Public Works Secretary Golam Rabbani said Rajuk and NHA would construct the buildings from their own funds which would be withdrawn after selling the flats to the public servants at competitive prices.
The ministry now has the capacity for providing government accommodation to only 8% of the public servants. Rests of the public servants have to wait until the houses are made vacant, ministry sources said.