It has been 15 years since the agreement was signed, under questionable circumstances, and the company has repeatedly failed to come to an understanding with the current occupants – the shop owners of DNCC market – about their stakes in this change.
The owners have been accusing Metro Group of trying to strong arm them away from the property for years. They also pointed finger at the company when the market burned down in a massive fire in January.
Since that incident, the government has been looking into the deal.
Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, a senior DNCC official requesting anonymity said: “The matter is now under observation of the Prime Minister’s Office.
“The prime minister has been informed of everything starting from the tender irregularities under the former mayor to the fire on January 3.”
Traders were angry with the company, and there are several stay orders from the High Court.
All these considered, it was a possibility that Metro Group might lose the contract, the official said.
However, when contacted, DNCC Mayor Annisul Huq told the Dhaka Tribune they had no alternative plans right now.
A massive fire broke out on January 3 at the Gulshan 1 DNCC Market, which housed a kitchen market and a supermarket on 5.56 acres of land. Traders have been blaming Metro Group for the fire. But DNCC has dismissed these claims.
The Fire Service’s investigation into the incident has been extended for another two months.
Dhaka City Corporation took an initiative to build two floors on top of the two-storey Gulshan 1 DCC Market in 2001. But the decision was cancelled when cracks developed on several columns of the building the next year.A bad dealIn 2003, the city corporation authorities planned to demolish the building and build a multi-storey shopping complex in its place, under a public-private partnership.
From the tender process and company selection to other steps to award a construction deal to the company, there were several allegations of irregularities.
The undivided DCC floated a tender on January 27, 2003 where three construction companies bought schedules separately.
Bashundhara City Development Limited, a sister concern of Bashundhara Group, became the lowest bidder and was permitted to start work on June 16 that year.
But the traders and shop owners of the market staged protests against the project, demanding confirmation of re-allotments after the market is built.
In 2005, the construction firm finally cancelled the deal due to lack of cooperation from the city corporation in freeing the land from the traders.Metro Group signed ‘in secret’A year later, DCC allegedly secretly awarded the tender to the second lowest bidder Amin Associates Overseas Company, a sister concern of Metro Group, without publishing a further tender.
Former Dhaka mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka signed the tender agreement within a short time, breaching the DCC tender rules, said sources at the city corporations.
Amin Associates then planned to build a multi-storey shopping complex-cum-commercial building on the land.
The company’s proposal was later sent to the Local Government Ministry which approved it in June 2006 near the end of BNP-Jamaat government’s tenure.
The DCC and Amin Associates signed a final agreement in this regard two months later.
According to the deal, the shop owners would get 27% space in the establishment with the construction company would get the rest.
However, during the caretaker government regime, Khoka’s first contract was suspended to increase the DCC’s stake in the project. In April 2009, the agreement was amended with the city corporation’s portion raised to 37%.
A DNCC official wishing anonymity said: “Khoka and some other unscrupulous senior officials of DCC and the ministry did the agreement with Metro Group to misappropriate money from the government project.”
The city corporation incurred losses worth over Tk150 crore because of the deal, the official added.
Khoka was sentenced to 13 years of imprisonment in absentia for amassing wealth illegally and concealing wealth information from the Anti-Corruption Commission.‘Metro Group kept creating pressure’Since the agreement, Metro Group had repeatedly tried to free the land forcefully from the traders without making an alternative arrangement for them.
Traders alleged that after a number of meetings asking them to leave, the company took a more threatening tone.
DNCC Mayor Annisul Huq assured the traders of giving them priority during allocation of business spaces in the new building.
He told the Dhaka Tribune he was consulting with both Metro Group and the traders to help settle the issue, searching for the best option for the construction of the building.
He added that the traders will not face any trouble during construction of the proposed building.
Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Metro Group General Manager Md Morshed Alam said: “Only the city corporation knows what will happen to the market.”
In reply to a query, he said the company had not had any financial dealings with former DCC mayor Khoka during the signing of the deal. He also dismissed the allegations of threatening the market’s traders and any involvement in the fire last month.
Thursday, March 27, 2025
