The dream of the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) cleaners for living in apartments does not seem to be fulfilled soon as the DNCC could not complete the two-year housing project in six years due to not getting adequate funds and not having the approval of the revised proposal.

Project officials said the work of the project is 70% complete. The government always prioritises category A projects. This housing project is under category B and the release of funds for it is slow.

Besides, the project plan and budget have so far been revised twice with the cost going up to Tk249 crore from Tk177 crore. The DNCC is waiting for the approval of another revised proposal with a hike of project cost of Tk33 crore.

DNCC engineers said once the revised plan is approved, it will take around one year to complete the project. However, the progress of the project will be uncertain if the revised project is not approved in the last meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) before the upcoming general election slated in January.

The project titled “Construction of Multistoried Residential Building in Gabtoli City Palli for the Cleaners of DNCC” was approved by the ECNEC on 1 February 2017 and was supposed to be completed by 30 June 2019 at Tk177 crore.

The DNCC has planned to build four 15-story residential buildings and 784 housing units for 784 families. There is also a four-story school building in the plan in the capital’s Gabtoli. Each family will get 562 sq ft of space with two bedrooms, one kitchen, one toilet and one bathroom.

The ECNEC approved the first revision of the project at Tk221 crore and the deadline was June 2021. It was further revised in 2021 and the cost went up to Tk249 crore.

Project officials said they got Tk142 crore so far with the highest fund release of Tk43.98 crore and Tk53.95 crore in 2021-22 and 2022-23 respectively.

Some cleaners near the site told the Daily Sun they have been waiting for six years with the hope of leaving the slum and living in apartments having modern facilities but their wait seems never-ending the project progresses at a snail’s pace.

Shahdat Hosasin Liton, president of the DNCC scavengers union, said, “We were told that the buildings would be ready for living in 2021 but it is still a dream for us. I think half of the work has not progressed so far. We want to live there as soon as possible.”

At present, four 15-story residential buildings and one four-story school building are visible on the project site which is near the Gabotoli bus terminal area some unfinished furnishing works on the exterior and interior.

Engineers said the installation of 14 passenger elevators, seven service elevators, two electrical substations, and some fire detection and protection work are yet to be completed.

Project officials also said the project has fallen behind the schedule and the costs have gone up as there were multiple challenges to implement the project. For example, the DNCC had to exchange 275.56 sq metres of land with the Bangladesh Agricultural Development Authority.

Besides, the construction site is in a low-lying area. So, the land was filled with soil to raise the existing ground levels. The primary design of the buildings was also prepared not in compliance with the latest building code of 2020.

Later, the whole design was vetted by the Military Institute of Science and Technology (MIST) which suggested some changes in the construction. They also recommended installing fire fighting detection and protection systems, said officials of DNCC.

Wishing anonymity, a DNCC official said, “Though the government is yet to release half of the fund, we have got some work done in advance. We did not proceed with installation works of escalators because the budget allocated for it is lower than the current market value as the dollar has become costlier against the taka.”

Regarding the rise in project cost, he said, “We made the estimate for the purchase following the DNCC Schedule of Rates of 2014 but prices of many things have gone up since then. As the DNCC has not updated its Schedule of Rates after 2014, we have proposed a revised budget following the approved Schedule of Rates of the Public Works Department of 2022.”

He claimed that most of the work was completed. Only the installation of two electrical substations, 21 escalators, interior furnishings, sanitary workers and some ancillary works are yet to be completed.

DNCC Chief Executive Officer Selim Reza told the Daily Sun, “We have finalised the revised plan. We hope it will get approval in the next ECNEC meeting. Then, we can complete the work quickly and hand it over to the cleaners.”