The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has asked the Rajdhani Unnyan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) to provide information about all plots under all of its projects, according to sources in the PMO.
Officials at the PMO said, the top authority of the government might have asked for information as there has been a storm of criticism over the ownership of more than two hundred plots of RAJUK in the name of Monir Hossain alias ‘Golden Manir,’ who has been arrested by law-enforcers recently.
It has been known that ‘Golden Monir’ had been known to all as the ‘’undeclared controller '’ of RAJUK, the government agency for capital development.
According to sources, Muhammad Shaheen Imran, a director at the PMO, on November sent a letter to the Secretary for Housing and Public Works asking for information about all the plots and projects under the RAJUK.
Later, the ministry directed the RAJUK officials concerned to provide detailed information in this regard.
Sources said, as per the directives, RAJUK authorities prepared detailed information of all the plots in Baridhara, Gulshan, Banani and other areas including Purbachal New City Project, Uttara (Phase-III) Residential Project and Jhilmil Residential Project.
Later, the RAJUK on Sunday sent details to the ministry about its total plots, number of allotted and vacant plots, and number of plots distributed among the victim people.
Housing and Public Works Secretary Shahid Ullah Khandaker said, “After receiving a letter from the PMO, we asked RAJUK to provide details of its plots. As there are a lot of projects, it took some time to get all the information.”
Asked whether there was any special reason for seeking information about RAJUK plots by the PMO, the Housing and Public Works Secretary said, it was a part of their routine work. “I don't think there was any special reason behind it.”
RAJUK Director (Estate) Md Nurul Islam also said, “The Ministry asked us for providing detailed information on the plots as per the instructions of PMO. We have prepared all the information and sent it to the ministry. We do not know why the information was sought.”
An official of the Housing and Public Works Ministry said, they have already received most of the information about RAJUK plots and projects in their hands from the RAJUK authorities.
Some new information is yet to be got. Once all the information is received, it will be sent to the PMO, he said.
Many officials of the Housing and Public Works Ministry think there must be something special behind the seeking of information about RAJUK plots and projects suddenly.
They said the government did not take the issue of Golden Monir having more than two hundred plots in his name easily. That is why all kinds of plot-related information may have been sought.
Besides, many of the victims in the acquisition of several projects, including the Purbachal New City project, have not got their plots as yet.
Sources in different sectors said there are huge allegations of irregularities in the allocation, distribution and disbursement of RAJUK plots under various projects.
A section of unscrupulous officials, in collaboration with some corrupt people, including businessmen, is involved in the process of plot allocation in exchange of bribe money.
There are allegations that people, who are supposed to get the RAJUK plots do not get plots due to the corruption in the government agency.
According to sources, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina herself has expressed dissatisfaction over RAJUK plot allocation activities.