Civil society actors on Saturday demanded the demolition of the BGMEA building in keeping with a High Court order before the inauguration of the Begunbari-Hatirjheel project.
They put forth the demand at a citizen’s rally organised by the Citizen Rights Movement in front of the BGMEA building.
The High Court in a verdict on April 3, 2011 directed the government to pull down the building, constructed in Hatirjheel Lake in the capital in violation of the law, asking the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association and others in the building to vacate the place in 90 days.
On an application the BGMEA filed on April 5, 2011, the Appellate Division chambers judge stayed for six weeks the operation of the High Court verdict delivered by the bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Choudhury and Justice Sheikh Md Zakir Hossain after hearing a rule issued suo moto.
Columnist Syed Abul Maksud said that the BGMEA had grabbed the railway land and built the building after filling in a portion of the lake, which hampered the natural water flow of the lake.
He said that the High Court had already declared the structure illegal and directed the government to pull down the building.
Maksud also demanded an immediate demolition of the BGMEA building on completion of the legal process as the six-week stay order of the Appellate Division on the operation of the High Court verdict had expired.
He asked the government to set an example of the rule of law by relocating the BGMEA building before the inauguration of the Begunbari-Hatirjheel project.
Former Bangladesh Water Development Board director general M Enamul Haque said that the BGMEA building was harmful for both the environment and the Begunbari-Hatirjheel project as the building stands in the middle of the lake.
He said that the High Court had declared the BGMEA building illegal but the government was yet to take any step for its demolition.
Enamul alleged that the BGMEA authorities had concealed information on the building and convinced the government of the time into laying the foundation and inaugurating the building.
Media personality Muhammad Jahangir said that there was no reason to protect the BGMEA building as the High Court declared it illegal.
He said that the building should have been demolished much earlier but the government had not taken any such initiative.
Mass communications and journalism teacher in Dhaka University Rubayet Ferdous said that the BGMEA had built the structure in violation of rules and regulations.
Politician Ruhin Hossain Prince, green activist Tusar Rehman and Ashish Kumar Dey also spoke.
The Hatirjheel-Begunbari project is scheduled to be opened to the public on January 2.
Source : New Age
