Minister says service-oriented entities will remain in residential areas

Opinions of residents will be considered before removing authorised educational institutions and hospitals from a neighbourhood, LGRD Minister Khandker Mosharraf Hossain has said.

He came up with the statement at a press conference at the Secretariat on Thursday, following a government initiative to remove within six months all commercial establishments from urban residential areas.
 
An educational institution or hospital considered a ‘service-oriented entity’ by local residents will not be removed, the local government and rural development minister said.
 
He said, “Educational institutions and hospitals can be identified as both service-oriented and commercial entities.”
 
“If service-oriented, they will not be branded commercial. But all commercial entities will be removed,” Minister Hossain said.
 
“If primary schools and coaching centres work as service providers, we have no problem in approving them,” he added.
 
But all licensed commercial entities in residential areas will be removed, he stressed.
 
The decision was taken in Monday's regular Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
 
The Local Government Division presented a report on the issue on Monday, a task given to it by the Cabinet in June 2015.
 
 
According to the minister, the cabinet decision has made commercial entities untenable in residential areas.
 
But residential plots converted into commercial with government approval will be considered legal.
 
“At present, 5,488 residential plots in Dhaka city are being used as commercial plots. Only 568 plots among these have been legally approved,” Minister Hossain said.