No progress in 10 years in relocating hazardous businesses

It is infuriating, to say the least, that 10 years after the chemical-induced devastating fire that claimed 126 lives, the government has made very little progress in relocating the precarious chemical businesses and warehouses from Old Dhaka, despite undertaking four projects—and spending considerable money—as part of the relocation plan. A recent report by this daily highlights how, a decade later, these projects are still at the initial stages, with the only notable development being the sharp escalation of costs—from Tk 686 crore at the beginning to around Tk 2,667 crore currently, according to project documents. The project undertaken in 2011 to establish a chemical industrial park at Boalkhali village in Munshiganj's Sirajdikhan upazila is nowhere near completion, and while initially, the plan was to establish the park on 20 acres of land, it has now expanded to a whopping 308 acres of land.

And while the bureaucrats and developers were busy extending their timeframes and lining their pockets, another fire that could have been circumvented took 80 lives in February of last year. Then, too, the government made promises to set up temporary warehouses for chemical businesses immediately—except, one and a half years have passed, but these warehouses are nowhere near ready. Meanwhile, our correspondents report that hazardous businesses are now spread out throughout Old Dhaka, risking hundreds of thousands of lives. The general secretary of Bangladesh Chemical and Perfumery Merchants' Association, admitted that 2,000 shops were still operating in Old Dhaka as the government is yet to provide them with plots, as promised under the MoU signed in 2017.

The highly ambitious and costly projects of the government have little value to citizens unless they are implemented before more tragedy strikes. We have already lost too many lives in accidents that were preventable—deaths that ought to weigh heavily on the conscience of the state. Extension of deadlines and expansion on budgets have become the custom when it comes to development projects, with rampant misutilisation of funds, failure to conduct proper feasibility tests, flouting of rules and regulations, and various other inefficiencies plaguing and slowing down crucial endeavours. Even the planning minister has, on multiple occasions, expressed his own frustration at the state of affairs.

We urge the government to immediately evaluate the status of these delayed projects and pinpoint why it is taking so long, and costing so much, to deliver on what has been promised to the people of Old Dhaka. If another fire breaks out in the area because of the negligence of our authorities, they will not be able to shirk their responsibilities by claiming it was an "accident".