CCC denies hill dwellers promised home

Mohammad Alamgir, a slum dweller in the port city, has been dreaming of living in an apartment with modern amenities since 2013, and it was very Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) that shone the light of hope for the slum people like Alamgir.

Former CCC mayor M Manjur Alam took a commendable project of the construction of a seven-storey building in the city's Tigerpass Batali Hill area with the aim of rehabilitating some 161 impoverished families living at risk  of landslides in the hillside slums.

In 2013, about 33 families of slum dwellers including that of Alamgir were also evicted from there so as to implement the project.

The evicted households were assured that they would be rehabilitated at the building once its construction was completed and that they would be the owners of the apartments provided to them after they paid the construction costs in instalments. 

Vegetables vendor Alamgir has been living with his family in a nearby slum since then, hoping to see his dream come true.

But their most cherished dream is now turning into nightmare with the city corporation authorities starting to backtrack from their earlier decision.

Apprehension is mounting among the slum people whether or not they would be given the flats since they are not getting any response from CCC concerning the issue, they claimed.

"We hear from the people that the CCC authorities will not give us the apartments. We are undergoing hardship and want CCC to allot the flats to us pursuant to its commitments," said Alamgir.

"We were supposed to pay Tk 6.10 lakh for each apartment in a monthly instalment of Tk 2, 500," he claimed.

Some other evicted slum dwellers namely Ramjan Ali, Minu Begum and Md Ebadul Huq echoed him, expressing their concerns over the matter.

"Initially, Tk 10, 000 was taken from each of the 33 families in the name of giving them the apartments," said Ramjan Ali, president of Matrichhaya, an organisation comprising the evicted families.   

Contacted, the former mayor, too, confirmed that the money was taken for their rehabilitation.

"We sent several letters to CCC, informing that we are leading a very inhuman life and in need of the apartments. But we are yet to get any response from CCC in this connection," Ramjan added.

Urging the authorities to hand over the flats to them, he further said it had been possible to evict the slum dwellers without any difficulties, as CCC managed to convince them that they would be rehabilitated at the building.

On Thursday, while visiting the building constructed at the cost of Tk 7 crore, this correspondent saw that each apartment is of 250 square feet, involving a living room, a bathroom and a small kitchen.

Manjurul Alam Chowdhury, the project's contractor, said majority of the construction work of the building  ended about three months back.

Contacted, CCC Chief Executive Officer Kazi Mohammad Shafiul Alam succinctly said it was a decision of the previous administration and that they had no plan to give the apartments to the slum dwellers at this moment.

"There is also an uncertainty surrounding the recovery of the huge investment of CCC from the slum dwellers if they are provided with the apartments," the CEO commented.  

CCC has a plan for shifting its office to the building during the construction of a new Nagar Bhaban or providing residential facilities to its employees there, he said, adding, "Nothing is yet to be finalised."

Contacted, CCC Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin said the decision of his predecessor was not pragmatic, as there remained a question as to how these rather poor families would pay the money.

The building would be used for other purposes, the present incumbent mentioned, without elaborating.

They will return the money taken from the 33 families, he added.