State minister for housing and public works Abdul Mannan Khan speaks at a seminar organised by the DCCI at its auditorium in the capital on Tuesday.— New Age photo

State minister for housing and public works Abdul Mannan Khan on Tuesday said Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha would remain in housing business along with the private sector realtors.
‘In this era of free market economy, developers in private sector should not hesitate to compete with the public sector in doing real estate business,’ said Mannan as chief guest at a seminar on regional planning and governance  to support land development and real estate sector in Bangladesh held in the capital.
The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry president chaired the seminar organised by the trade body at its auditorium.
Rajuk chairman Nurul Huda spoke at the seminar as special guest.
Abdul Mannan said Rajuk built houses to sell those to the middle and lower income people at lower prices.
‘But, the private sector developers sell a single plot of land submerged under 70 feet of water to ten different customers,’ the state minister said.
‘There is no country in the world where you can see a single case of publishing advertisement by realtors before achieving ownership of land, but it happens in Bangladesh,’ he said.
Abdul Mannan said the new Real Estate Act 2010 adopted a provision of tough punishment for the realtors who would cheat people by advertising of plots before getting ownership of land.
If private and public sectors compete with each other in the housing sector, common people will be benefited, he said.
‘You [private sector realtors] can’t resolve the housing problem alone. Let’s take united steps to develop the housing sector of the country,’ he said.
He said Rajuk would be divided into eight zones to reduce corruption and to decentralise its executive functions.
Nurul Huda said zoning process of the capital under the Detailed Area Plan would start after two months. ‘The zone offices will execute all functions except disputes which should be resolved through the Rajuk headquarters.’
Rajuk chairman said the computerisation of Rajuk would be completed by December this year.
‘The DAP will be extended as Structural Area Plan to 2035 as the projected time frame of the DAP will end in 2015,’ he said.
Asif Ibrahim stressed on effective implementation of land policy, making necessary reforms and employing skilled manpower.
The DCCI president said, ‘Contribution of the financing organisations to the sector as a whole is quite inadequate and this is holding back its growth.’
International expert on city competitiveness professor emeritus Brian Roberts and DCCI director Khairul Majid Mahmud presented two key note papers in the seminar.
The Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh president Nasrul Hamid, Asset Developments and Holdings Ltd managing director Salim A Khan, Anwar Group of Industries managing director Monwar Hossain and a geography professor at Dhaka University Nurul Islam Nazem also spoke at the seminar.