Complaints against Ashrayan-2 houses being investigated on the spot, says project director

Every single complaint on irregularities related to construction of houses under Ashrayan-2 project is being addressed, Md Mahbub Hossain, director of the government project says.

There could be unintended mistakes while doing such work and authorities were looking into the matter, Mahbub said while visiting homes being built under the project in Bogura's Sherpur Upazila on Saturday.

He pointed out that authorities were figuring out whether the allegations raised in media reports were intentional or simple mistakes.

“We will address every single complaint, nothing will remain unattended,” Mahbub said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's initiative to provide homes to landless and homeless people free of cost was the best gift on the occasion of Mujib Year, according to the project director.

“What we call “Sheikh Hasina's Model for Inclusive Development” is being carried out across the country. There have been complaints of issues with the ongoing work in some media reports,” he continued.

Five teams from the project office have been looking into these matters on the spot since Friday, Mahbub said. “Steps would be taken after identifying after assessing these issues.”

“Earlier we had asked all district and Upazila administrations to form committees."

These committees will look at every house, identify any construction errors and fix them immediately. They will also let the project authorities know if things are in order, he added.

On the issue of some houses collapsing in Bogura's Sherpur after inspection by authorities, the director said, “We visited Munshiganj and Tangail's Mirzapur yesterday. Today we arrived at Sherpur Upazila.

“We found here that 22 houses were built beside Sherpur canal. Among them, portions of toilets and kitchens of seven houses have crumbled due to landslides.”

On why the collapse might have occurred, he offered: “We came to know from external sources that this could have happened due to reasons related to neglect or irregularities.

“We noticed that the rears of the toilets were built by RCC pillars. But they were not durable because when the water is pumped to the sprawling land from beneath, it creates pressure on the structures. The water drainage caused the RCC pillars behind seven houses to collapse.”

Mahbub added, “We've formed a committee to resolve the issue. We've already dumped geobags there. A permanent drainage system will be laid out so that crop field water pumps do not create pressure on the houses. That will keep the houses safe.”

On choosing locations to build houses in the Ashrayan project, Mahbub said, “We were told to choose government land, land free from 1988's flood and not to choose land which could be waterlogged or flooded.”

"All our houses were built on pieces of government land, which are not at the level of other houses or developed for housing. They are nearly as low as crop fields. It's not true that waterlogging will occur everywhere. It happened in several locations due to incessant rains. Local administrations took steps to drain the water and preserve the homes.”

Heavy rainfall, floods, other natural disasters along with irregularities with construction caused damage to some houses under the project in different areas.

The project officials went out to see for themselves after construction issues of some houses were brought to light.

Five teams from the Prime Minister's Office began inspecting the houses under the project splitting districts and Upazilas into five separate blocks from Friday morning.

Ashrayan-2 Project Director Mahbub is leading one of the teams himself.

The teams have been instructed to prepare a report, which will include photos and an assessment of whether the construction style, quality and designs were up to the approved guidelines.

The government announced “zero tolerance” for irregularities in building these houses and embezzlement of funds in the project.

In the meantime, five government officials have been made official on special duty or OSD, which is regarded as a punishment posting.

Bangladesh has so far provided 118,380 families with two decimals of land and houses with two rooms under “Sheikh Hasina's Model for Inclusive Development”.

The government plans to provide land and houses to 293,361 landless and homeless people and 592,261 families with decrepit houses.