The Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh on Tuesday called on the home minister to ensure security for the real estate developers.
They made the demand at the closing ceremony of REHAB Fair 2012 at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre, saying that the ‘sliding’ law and order was hindering the pace of development in the country’s real estate sector.
In reply, the home minister, Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir, addressing the programme as the chief guest, asked them to inform the authorities concerned whenever any incident of law and order happened.
‘We are committed to ensure law and order,’ the minister added.
REHAB Fair 2012 standing committee chairman Abdur Rahim Khan said, ‘The country is not only running short of gas and electricity, the law and order situation as well has deteriorated.’
Former additional inspector general of police Abdur Rahim Khan cited an example of killing of a developer company employee in an under-construction project recently.
The REHAB secretary general Anisuzzaman Bhuiyan Rana also expressed his concern over the sliding law and order situation and asked the minister to ensure security for them.
In the fair, several hundred real estate and housing companies made a brisk business of about Tk 620 crore with their plots and flats, mostly unapproved.
According to the association, 25,000 people visited the five-day fair ended on Sunday.
The apex body of the real estate developers said several hundred housing and real estate companies sold 652 plots and 596 flats in the fair while they managed to make deals of selling about 952 flats and plots.
The state minister for housing and public works, Abdul Mannan Khan, inaugurated the fair though the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha chairman boycotted the opening ceremony after the REHAB declared that it would not tolerate ‘interference of Rajuk in the fair.
According to the association, 213 companies displayed several hundred housing projects in the fair, while the Rajuk said about 30 projects of plots had the approval of the city development authorities.
The Rajuk approved 26 residential projects of 13 housing and real estate companies as of October 2012.
Rajuk member (planning) Sheikh Abdul Mannan told New Age that the city development authorities had given conditional approval to four to five more residential projects apart from the 26.
The projects which got the approval are: Niketon residential project, Postagola housing project, Postagola Riverview Project, Basabo residential project, Rayer Bazar housing project, KM Das Lane residential project, Bagbari (Sheeshmahal) land project, Mahanagar project, Banasri residential project, Kalyanpur land project, Arambagh Cooperative Housing Society, Pallabi residential project, Pallabi second phase project of Eastern Housing Ltd, Baitul Aman Cooperative Housing Project, Mohammadpur Housing Pisciculture and Farming Cooperative Society Ltd, Adarsha Chhayanir housing project, Shikder Real Estate project, Abdur Rouf housing at Mohammadpur, Sunibir housing project, Christian Cooperative housing project, Bashundhara residential project (first phase—full of A,B,C block and a part of block D,E,F), Janata Housing cooperative society, Mukti residential project, Mallika residential project of Sheltech and Probal housing project.     
 Projects which got the conditional approval included United City residential project of Neptune Land Development Ltd, BDDL Natundhara residential project, Green Model Town of Amin Mohammad Lands Development Ltd and Swadesh residential project.