Ex-land minister hinders BPC building construction

BPC doesn’t have permanent office

Staff Correspondent: Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), the state organization controlling the country’s petroleum energy, is unable to move forward due to mismanagement, irregularities, corruption, nepotism, and bureaucratic complications. Almost all projects of BPC are slowed down due to undue interference.
Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) has completed 47 years of establishment. The Import and Marketing Regulatory Agency of the Petroleum Energy Sector in the country does not yet have its own head office. The office house is being rented for a long time. The plan to build the last head office was also destroyed by a DO letter of the former land minister.
Establishment of BPC
The head office of BPC was shifted to Chittagong in 1989 due to the decentralization policy of the government as the head office and main depot of the country’s state-owned fuel oil marketing companies are in Chittagong. Initially, BPC was running its head office in the House Building Finance Corporation building in Agrabad in the city.
Now the operation is going on with the rented of the second floor and part of the fourth floor of the head office of Bangladesh Shipping Corporation opposite Saltgola Port Building.
Head Office Construction Project
According to sources, in 2018, BPC took a policy decision to build the head office at Jaipahar, adjacent to Jamal Khan, at a cost of about Tk 150 crore. According to the needs of the institution, the Ministry of Finance also allocated Tk 100 crore for the project in the financial year 2018-19. The implementation period of the project is fixed from July 2018 to June 2020. In that project, a plan was taken to construct a 20-storey building at Joypahar.
BPC published the notification for the recruitment of consultants in the project in 2019. As part of the series, the two organizations also submitted conceptual designs. But later on, BPC withdrew from the
decision to build only the head office in the face of obstacles from the ministry at the two evaluation stages of the proposal. After that, on the recommendation of the ministry, it was decided to bring Joypahar under a comprehensive master plan.
Later, BPC announced a prize of Tk five lakh for presenting a beautiful design for the construction of integrated structures around Jaipahar. Then the best urban planner of the country Architect Iqbal Habib presented the conceptual proposal of the project. He is the head of the architecture firm Bithi.
According to BPC sources, there is 30 acres of land owned by BPC in Jayapahar. A master plan is then created as part of a plan to beautify the entire area. The Department of Energy and Mineral Resources approved the design presented by the foundation’s architects. In that design, apart from the main office building, the staff quarter, playground, hanging bridge, terracotta and other beautiful structures are kept. The entire plan is to keep the natural features of the hills and forests intact.
At the end of 2020, the Director (Operation and Planning) of BPC Syed Mehdi Hasan told the media that the Department of Energy and Mineral Resources has approved the construction of the head office in Jaipahar. The base presented design has also been adopted. They have been awarded Tk five lakh for presenting the design. The foundation was appointed as the consultant for the project. Architect Iqbal Habib informed about the preparation of proposals to build necessary offices for the manpower in front of the next 50 years.
Project fell through with land minister’s DO letter
However, at the beginning of 2021, a DO letter of the former land minister stopped all arrangements for the construction of the BPC head office at Jayapahar. On February 23, 2021, the then Minister of Lands Saifuzzaman Chowdhury requested the outgoing Minister of State for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid not to construct commercial buildings in Joypahar.
In that letter of the Ministry of Lands, it is mentioned, ‘Jaipahar Estate adjacent to Sarson Road in Chittagong is a traditional and ancient residential area. The hill is rich in centuries-old trees, beautifully shaded and full of various species of plants and biodiversity.
Besides, CS, RS and BS records and Chittagong Development Authority have recognized the land of Joypahar Mauza as residential. For this reason, no commercial establishment has been made on this hill since the British period. I learned from reliable sources that Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation will construct a five-storey commercial building on this hill. If any such structure is constructed here, it will pose a serious threat to many centuries-old and rare species of trees, rich environment and biodiversity.’’
Moreover, this estate is well known as an ancient and traditional residential area. Therefore, it will not be appropriate to construct commercial establishments here. In such a situation, in the interest of local biodiversity and environment protection and public interest, we request that necessary steps to be taken not to construct the commercial building proposed by BPC in the traditional Jaipahar residential area.’
On February 25, 2021, the DO letter was entered as diary number 18 in the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources. On the same day, Nasrul Hamid marked the Senior Secretary (Fuel) and wrote in the letter, ‘The matter is urgent, take action.’ After that, the construction project of BPC’s head office at Joypahar collapsed.
What was found on ground
It can be seen from the surface, Minister of Lands has his own residence on Sarson Road on the opposite hill of BPC’s Jayapahar Lagoa. There are several commercial establishments at the foot of Jaypahar. There are also buildings with a height of more than 15 floors. There is an office of one of the top developers in Chittagong.
Allotment of new land to BPC for Tk 25 cr
After the failure of the Jaipahar project, the Ministry of Lands allocated the 119th century null class Khasami to BPC in Baklia Mauza with the cooperation of the then Minister of Lands. In this regard, the Ministry of Lands wrote a letter to the Chittagong District Commissioner to give the allotted land to BPC at a sale price on May 12, 2022. In continuation of that, a letter was sent to the BPC chairman to deposit Tk 25 crore 39 lakh 52 thousand 307 in the government treasury as salami price in favor of the allotted land from the Deputy Commissioner’s office on May 29.
BPC deposited that money in the government treasury on June 7, 2022. Later, the district administration gave the allotted space to BPC. On December 4, the Prime Minister laid the foundation stone of the BPC headquarters building project. But there is not much progress in the last year and a half.
In this regard, BPC Director (Operation and Planning) Anupam Barua told, “Land has already been obtained in Baklia for the construction of BPC’s head office. The foundation stone has been laid. Relevant work on the proposal is in progress.