Minister Rezaul Karim talks tough on illegal buildings

Buildings constructed in a breach of rules in Dhaka will be dismantled, Housing and Public Works Minister SM Rezaul Karim has said.

“Those who built buildings in the new quarters of Dhaka breaching the rules must dismantle those structures,” he said at a media briefing at the Dhaka Reporters Unity on Friday.

The government has started identifying the buildings constructed illegally in Dhaka, said the minister.

Karim warned that no risky buildings will be spared.  “Homeowners who built unplanned buildings, however influential they may be, will not be let off the hook.”

“The risky buildings will be sealed or identified as uninhabitable and completely illegal, if the owners refuse to demolish those. We’ll not allow using those buildings. For many, a building is a source of income, but it’s not more valuable than human life.”

After the FR Tower fire at Banani, 62 officials were found negligent, the minister said, citing an investigation.

“I ordered action against them last week,” he said.

As many as 24 teams of Rajuk found irregularities in construction of 1,818 buildings, according to him.

He sought the media’s help to take action against the “powerful owners of these buildings”.

“I’ve ordered Rajuk to take action against them. I’ve asked not to drop any of the buildings, even if owned by ministers, MPs or my relatives. Law must be allowed to follow its own course,” the minister said.