Construction approval: Realtors concerned over move to include city corporations
Realtors have expressed concerns over the government's plan to involve city corporations in the process of giving permission to build structures in Dhaka as it would create more hassles for the housing sector.
Md Tajul Islam, minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, informed the mayors of Dhaka and Chattogram about the government's plan during a meeting on February 6.
Islam said that individuals and organisations will now have to take permission from their respective city corporations, in addition to Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk), to erect buildings in Dhaka.
However, the minister asked the mayors to be aware so that people are not harassed in the process.
"If the city corporations become involved in giving permission for construction, it would have a negative impact on the housing industry," said Alamgir Shamsul Alamin, president of the Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB).
"We already have to face severe hassles in securing approval for our designs from the Rajuk even though the organisation has 50 years of experience and sufficient manpower," he said.
The city corporations are not similarly well-equipped in this regard. So, hassles would increase immensely if another organisation is involved in the approval process as it would cause further delays and conflict, Alamin added.
FR Khan, managing director of Building Technology and Ideas Ltd, said if the government decides to involve city corporations in the approval process, only two things can happen. The first is increased corruption while the second is slower processing.
"This is quite conflicting with the government's plan to introduce one-stop services to improve the ease of doing business in Bangladesh," he said.
Currently, realtors have to take permission from 10 different government organisations in case of building high-rise structures.
So, this plan will not have a positive effect on the industry, rather it would affect the roughly 50-lakh strong workforce involved in the construction sector, including the backward linkage industries, Khan said.
Iqbal Habib, joint secretary of the Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon, told The Daily Star that this initiative will be praised when the approval of plans in all other service-providing organisations is given through city corporations in a coordinated manner.
"Otherwise, bringing a new organisation into the planning process that already includes the Rajuk and other service-providing organisations like the Fire Service and Civil Defence, will only increase the people's sufferings," he said.
Adil Mohammad Khan, former general secretary of the Bangladesh Institute of Planners, said that most city corporations across the globe ideally remain involved with this kind of approval process.
"This is because the real impact of any structure can only be felt once construction is complete. So, in many countries, the development authority remains under city corporations that play a vital role in this regard."
"But in Bangladesh, there is a separate authority for this purpose."
However, many people are worried about the move as they foresee increased hassles due to their bitter experiences of the past.
"But if the government wants to do this, the city corporations have to be developed to do the job by creating a separate planning unit in each of their wards or at least in all 10 zonal offices," Adil said.
The Rajuk gives approval of a building plan but it does not play any role in its impact analysis, so if the two organisations work in a coordinated manner, the city corporations can provide them positive support.
However, the reality is that the city corporations don't have any planning unit to carry out the job, and if they do this without setting up a planning unit, it will have a negative impact, he added.
Md Selim Reza, chief executive officer of the Dhaka North City Corporation, says it is preparing a draft guideline in this regard and will submit it to the ministry concerned for approval.
"We will start working to this end after securing approval and its gazette," he said.
Responding to the concerns of different stakeholders, Reza said people will not face any hassle in getting the approval of city corporations before taking final approval from the Rajuk.
The process will rein in violation of rules and the tendency of not following approved designs, he said.
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