The government will build 440 small flats for the cleaners of Dhaka city, involving Tk78.96 crore, up by 14.98% than the estimated cost.
A proposal put forward by the LGRD Ministry for building 440 flats, 427 sq ft each, was approved at a meeting of the cabinet committee on public purchase yesterday. Finance Minister AMA Muhith chaired the meeting.
According to the tender document prepared three years ago and re-floated early this year, the estimated cost for building these flats was Tk68.67 crore. But Navana Construction Ltd, the lowest bidder, had quoted Tk78.96 crore. Initially, 11 firms quoted the prices, of whom four were selected.
The tender floated earlier was cancelled as the government had found that none of the bidders was qualified enough for the work. A total of 13 firms took part in the tender.
LGRD Secretary Manjur Hossain who signed the proposal told the Dhaka Tribune that the cabinet committee had approved the proposal for constructing five 10-storey buildings for the cleaners. The project is expected to be completed in 2017.
The price quoted by Navana was higher than the estimated cost, but it was 5.6% lower than the current market price, he said, adding that considering the level of inflation over last three years, the rise in the project cost was justified.
The new flats have been planned for those who work under the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC).
Currently, there are two “sweeper colonies” in the capital – one at Kamalapur and another at Dayaganj – that accommodate most of the 8,000 sweepers who work under the DSCC.
In 2007, a six-storey building collapsed at Dayaganj soon after it was erected. There were allegations that the erstwhile Dhaka City Corporation authority resorted to huge corruption, using poor quality building materials that led to the collapse.
The Anti-Corruption Commission is investigating an allegation of using “poor quality raw materials” for building the colony that resulted in a Tk58 lakh loss to the public exchequer.
There are also two temporary colonies – one at Hazaribagh and another near Mitford Hospital. The living conditions are extremely poor in those colonies and the boarders badly need alternate dwellings.
At present, there are about 55 lakh sweepers in the country who work under various local government bodies.
