Road given to AL men

In a bizarre move, Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) leased out a public road near Baldha Garden to Awami League men, who then set up a kitchen market there.

The once widely used road now has 44 shops on it. Some of the shops were rented out and some sold.

The city corporation cannot by law allocate any road for markets or shops, but some of its officials did it for bribes, alleged a number of officials at the Nagar Bhaban, the DSCC headquarters.

The lane is next to the west wall of Baldha Garden between Nawab Street and Hare Street in Wari, a densely populated residential area.

Documents state that Tasabbibor Hossain, son of Ward-41 AL president Abul Hossain, and local AL activist Shahidul Hasan jointly sought the allocation of 1,980sqft area of the lane for setting up a market in early 2012, showing the place as "open and abandoned”.

Late local AL lawmaker Mizanur Rahman Khan Dipu (Dhaka-6) had recommended the allocation.

Estate Department officials of the DSCC were supposed to survey and see whether the "space" could be allocated for a market but they did not do so, as they themselves were part of the plot, alleged some DSCC officials.

The estate department then moved a file recommending that the "space" be temporarily allocated to the applicants with a monthly rent of Tk 15 per sqft.

In the file, there was no mention of the space actually being a road.

An assistant estate officer sent the file to the then DSCC administrator Khalilur Rahman for approval. The then chief estate officer and chief executive officer (CEO) Sultanul Islam Chowdhury had signed the file.

Upon approval from the administrator, the chief estate officer issued the allotment.

The AL men later set up the 44 shops there. Local AL leaders kept some shops for themselves while the rest were sold for Tk 6-10 lakh each.

As per space allotment rules, a 10-member committee led by the CEO is supposed to see whether any space under the city corporation's jurisdiction could be allotted.

An advertisement then has to be put on the city corporation notice board, its website, and on two well-circulated newspapers to inform people about the allotment and to get competitive prices for the lease.

The DSCC deliberately avoided the entire process in this case.

Khalilur, who approved the application on May 21, 2012, two weeks before his tenure as administrator ended, said he had approved it in the light of the documents submitted before him.

Asked on what grounds he had leased out a road, he said he was not ready to answer the question.

Ex-DSCC chief executive Sultanul claimed that some city corporation officials had forged his signature after he had left the office, completing his tenure.

However, records show that he was still the CEO when the allotment was done.

Incumbent CEO Ansar Ali Khan said no street could be leased out. He, however, did not say if the allotment would be cancelled and the road would be reopened for people.

During a recent visit to the place, now named Wari City Super Market, these correspondents saw garbage littered everywhere. Quite a few concrete shops had been built there, leaving no sign of the road.

Jamilur Rahman, a resident of the area, said he used to go to work using the lane as it was close to his residence.

"Now, I have to go to office through an alternative road that increases the distance to a great extent.

"Then again, the lane was used for diverting traffic during jams. But it's of no use now," he added.

Iqbal, general secretary of Ward-41 of pro-AL Swechchhasebak League, has a shop in the market. He said he was looking for a buyer to sell his shop.

"All papers are okay," he claimed before The Daily Star correspondents, adding that the monthly rent for each of the shops was Tk 4,500.

As allegations over the illegal allotment surfaced, the Anti-Corruption Commission has recently started an inquiry.

ACC Deputy Director Abdus Sobhan, who is conducting the investigation, said he was going through the documents now. "Soon I will visit the place."