‘Affordable housing for all should be the goal’
After the finance minister in his budget speech revealed the government's plan to construct up to 60,000 flats in Purbachal New Town and 8,400 in Uttara Sector-18 to resolve the housing problem, experts have cast doubt on the plan, pointing to examples of previous initiatives like this, which had flaws in implementation.
Alongside building the flats, as promised by the prime minister, steps have been taken to build four satellite cities in the vicinity of Dhaka, considering its growth. Moreover, there are plans to build Bangabandhu Satellite City at both ends of the Padma Multi-purpose Bridge, said Mustafa Kamal.
Iqbal Habib, joint secretary of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon, said they welcome the initiative to construct satellite towns, but the housing problem will not be resolved by constructing apartments by the government.
Habib said the government has failed to provide apartments in Uttara third phase at affordable prices, rather, they have become expensive apartments, as prices do not remain in control under government management.
Echoing Habib, Adil Mohammad Khan, general secretary of Bangladesh Institute of Planners, said prices of flats constructed by the government were almost similar to market prices, and as a result, low-income people cannot afford those.
Adil said there is a shortage of housing facilities across the country, and in some projects, flats were constructed in an unplanned way.
Giving an example, he said 6,636 flats in Uttara Sector-18 have already been constructed. "Though the project was implemented targeting lower-middle and middle-class people, it actually became an apartment project for the upper-class."
The government will have to take up housing projects that will be affordable for all, and flats will have to be constructed in different sizes. Although authorities are constructing some housing projects for the lower-income people, it's not enough when compared to the demand, he added.
Contacted, Ujjwal Mallick, chief engineer of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk), said three types of flats will be constructed in the Purbachal apartment project for limited-, middle- and high-income people.
The size of the flats will be from 1,500 to 3,500 square feet. Besides, 400-500 square feet flats will also be constructed for low-income people. All the buildings will be between 20-storey and 30-storey high, he said.
Habib recommended the government create land banks instead of constructing apartments, and provide flats through a competitive management system, involving different private developers, so that people can get apartments in different categories at affordable prices.
In rural areas, the government will have to provide loans below 6 or 7 percent interest, so people can construct buildings by their own initiative, taking land from the government's land bank, he said.
Lack of land bank is the main crisis, and the government can solve this issue, he said. When someone will build their own house by themselves, then they will get ownership and be able to maintain construction quality at an affordable cost.
Suggesting that authorities should intervene in the land sector, Adil said the government should have taken initiatives to increase its land supply.
He made further recommendations. "Our housing policy mentions ensuring social housing. In developed countries, there are many such projects. The government does not have the capacity to start a social housing project in a larger scale, but they can do it through a private-public partnership model," he said.
Also, authorities will have to take steps to curb the monopoly of big housing companies, which are hiking the price of plots. They should also limit ownership capacity of such housing companies, so that they cannot take ownership of huge amounts of land, he added.
Besides, authorities will have to take initiative for housing projects outside Dhaka, Adil said. Instead of initiating projects in only a few major cities, such housing plans should be taken in all the district cities.
"The government is taking up mega projects, but it will have to give priority to projects that are building housing for the poor, who are affected by natural disasters," he added.
Both Habib and Adil criticised the quality of government-constructed flats.
Habib said many buildings are being made across the country under the government's initiative, but their quality is not up to mark.
Adil said the Ashrayan project is a good initiative, but poor quality of the buildings should be looked into.
To modernise major cities of the country and ensure their planned growth, master plans of various duration are being prepared, Mustafa Kamal said. For example, the preparation of Detailed Area Plan by Rajuk for the period of 2016-2035, and of Chattogram Metropolitan Master Plan by Chattogram Development Authority for the period of 2020-2041 are underway.
Similar master plans will be prepared for other major cities, the minister said in his budget speech.
Following directives of the prime minister, the government is formulating and implementing projects to increase housing facilities of government officials and employees, from 8 percent of facilities to 40 percent, he said.
Rajuk has so far constructed 6,636 apartments in 379 high-rise buildings in Uttara Sector-18 and 380 apartments in nine high-rises on abandoned lands in Gulshan, Dhanmondi, Lalmatia and Mohammadpur, said officials.
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