A realtor with a focus on safety

Ghazi Shafiqul A Choudhury

Compliance with building codes and construction regulations is becoming important in the real estate sector not only in Dhaka, but also in other places of the country. In the recent years, Bogra, a commercial hub in the northern part of Bangladesh, has seen the rise of a number of developers in the town. As a result, safety and compliance issue has come to the fore.
Ghazi Shafiqul A Choudhury, a leading realtor in the district, feels that there is a lack of strict building and construction regulations that need to be addressed. He expresses his views with The Daily Star on construction work and residential and commercial building sprouting in the locality.
“There are only a few residential buildings in selected places in Bogra town. It is important that the structures are attractive, eye-catching, and at the same time, have solid foundations and meet all building regulations.”
Choudhury, chairman and managing director of Ghazi Real Estate, feels that each building itself should be an icon or landmark in Bogra town. “I would like to feel that I have done something nice for the neighbourhood and everyone will appreciate it. My objective is long term and I do not believe in doing anything as a quick fix for short term gains.”
About the buyers of built space in the area, Choudhury says, most of the buyers of his first project were from outside Bogra district; mainly from Naogaon, Natore, Dinajpur, Rangpur and Khulna.
“Most buyers are professionals like doctors, engineers, college teachers, lawyers and small businesspeople. They are happy to pay 20 percent booking money and the rest in monthly or quarterly instalments.”
He says there is a lack of trust and understanding between the land owners and developers, and between the buyers and developers.
“Each party looks for self interest and self gain,” Choudhury says. There is a lack of understanding between them in long term matters. “Everyone is looking for immediate gains.”
“Unfortunately there are no strict building regulations or inspection. I have seen some big projects where no qualified architects or structural engineers were employed or involved.”
He says the developers do not fulfil all the promises they make at the time of sales. “It is very common that project handover is not made on time.”
He advised the buyers to look into safety matters before investing. “Collect past records of the developer, talk to the previous buyers on whether they were satisfied with the quality of work and if handover was made on time or not,” he says.
“Buyers must visit the project site to talk to the engineers and get as much information as possible,” adds Choudhury, who started a new project, Ghazi-Pallab, a few months back.
He requested the buyers, developers and land owners to abide by the newly introduced government gazette for their safety. “If the developers cannot comply with any clause, they may face 2 years in jail and a fine of 20 lakh.”
The top boss of Ghazi Real Estate returned to Bangladesh after many years abroad. He went to the UK in 1967 after graduating from Dhaka Medical College. “I qualified as a gynaecologist in 1971, and then I served as a general practitioner in London for 33 years. I took early retirement from National Health Service in the UK and decided to return home.”
“Upon return, I felt that I needed to improve our house, which we inherited from our parents. So I build 'Ghazi Palace' -- a seven-storied building facing the Eidgah field in the Bogra town” says Choudhury. The building has now become an icon and a landmark in the town, he says.
With requests from neighbours and others in the locality to build more residential buildings, he was inspired to invest money and form a company to undertake development work.
His first project is Ghazi Pallab Palace that will have 60 apartments, two lifts, two staircases, a community hall, and a multipurpose room. The building was designed by an architect firm -- Nokshabid in Banani, Dhaka -- and supervised by professional structural engineers, he says.
“Now we are approached by different land owners in Bogra town every week. They want us to build house on their land. But we are very selective and wish to build only where we can improve the environment and meet all the requirements of the new housing law.”