Rajuk starts demolishing BGMEA building

FT ONLINE

The demolition process of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) building has begun.

Housing and Public Works Minister SM Rezaul Karim inaugurated the demolition process around 12:30 pm on Wednesday.

Four Star Enterprise Limited, a local company, has been given the responsibility of carrying out the work. The company's Director Nasrullah Khan Rashed said: "As per our terms of tender, the whole building must be demolished within six months."

The BGMEA built a 15-storey building with 2.66 lakh square feet of floor space on land belonging to Hatirjheel and sold 1.25 lakh square feet of floor space to different entities, including Dhaka Bank, Exim Bank Ltd and 38 apparel manufacturing companies.

The building was raised without the permission of the housing and public works ministry and in defiance of the rules. The construction was finished in 2006.

In 2011, the High Court issued an order to tear it down, describing the BGMEA building as a tumour in the middle of Hatirjheel canal. It also ordered the government to demolish the structure within 90 days, terming it as "a cancerous growth" eclipsing the capital’s landmark Hatirjheel lake.

The apex court rejected the BGMEA’s appeal against the High Court order on June 2, 2016.

The garment exporters took a long time to demolish the building after the Supreme Court order. The final deadline ended on Apr 12, 2019.

In April, 2018, the BGMEA obtained a third extension of one year to demolish the illegally built structure from the Appellate Division on an undertaking by the organization not to seek any further extension of time.