BGMEA gets land to build office at Uttara

BGMEA is going to establish its new building in the capital’s Uttara as the government has confirmed an allocation of 5.5 bighas of land for relocation. The apex trade body of clothing industry has to shift its office from the BGMEA Bhaban located at Karwan Bazaar since the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court dismissed review petition, saying the building was built illegally, and therefore it must be pulled down. Later, based on the petition for time, the court granted six months to demolish the building. The government has given Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association the nod and everything is set to get the allocation for a 5.5-bigha plot at Uttara to raise a new building for the BGMEA office, a highly placed BGMEA source told the Dhaka Tribune. “The registration of land in the name of BGMEA would be done shortly in a board meeting of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK),” the source said, asking not to be named. RAJUK is the authority to allocate land in the vicinity of the capital. The ready-made garment sector is the largest foreign currency earner which contributes over 82% to the total export earnings, RAJUK said in its opinion, responding to the letter of BGMEA, according to the source. “Considering the contribution to the society, we should cooperate with RMG sector and provide land complying with rules and regulations,” he said, quoting RAJUK official. “Based on the current market price of land, BGMEA has to pay some Tk33 crore,” another source at BGMEA told the Dhaka Tribune, seeking anonymity. “We do not want to have the land free of cost and not repeat the same thing that happened to the existing building,” he said, adding that everything would be done as per the law of the land. On the other hand, the apex trade body is going to form several committees to expedite the process of relocation. The committees would be comprised of former BGMEA leaders and office bearers headed by its president Siddiqur Rahan. The new committees would work on approving plans for the new building, its design and construction. For that purpose, the trade body will hold Extra-ordinary General Meeting (EGM) this week. The 15-storey BGMEA headquarters stands on a crucial spot in Dhaka and blocks the connection between the two large water bodies in the city – Hatirjheel lake and Begunbari canal.