Work on auditorium not completed in 21 years
Md Ziaur Rahman, Mirzaganj (Patuakhali)
An auditorium building in Mirzaganj Upazila of Patuakhali has been abandoned for the past 21 years, resulting in the government's loss of millions of taka in assets and the local residents being deprived of modern amenities.
According to relevant sources, on July 7, 2005, the then BNP government's Commerce Minister Air Vice Marshal (Retd.) Altaf Hossain Chowdhury (MP) laid the foundation stone of the Mirzaganj Auditorium building on the premises of Subidkhali Government College. M/s Moniruzzaman Monir Enterprise was appointed as the contractor for this construction work on 30 percent land at a cost of Tk 6.7 million for the implementation of Patuakhali Zilla Parishad.
Almost half of the building's work was successfully completed within the first year after the groundbreaking.
But a few days later, when the political situation in the country changed, the construction of the auditorium came to a complete halt.
Since then, no work has been done on this public-interest project. As a result, for 21 years, the building has become a haunted house, covered in creepers and weeds. The bricks of the building are covered in moss, the rods are rusting, and the building has been used as a shelter for drug addicts due to its long-term non-use.
Besides, on the one hand, a huge amount of government money has been wasted, on the other hand, the entire upazila population, including teachers and students of the local college, has been deprived of various civic facilities for a long time. Since the auditorium is not functioning, it is not possible to organize any major cultural programs, seminars or meetings in the area. Currently, people from all walks of life in the upazila have strongly demanded from the current administration to put an end to this waste and quickly renovate and reconstruct the building to make it suitable for use.
The owner of the contractor company, Moniruzzaman Monir, said that the work has been done with the allocated money. The work could not be completed as per the plan due to the estimate being wrong. Later, when the relevant authorities recommended the allocation of 1 crore 7 lakh taka, the allocation was not received from the ministry.
Mirzaganj UNO said that further action will be taken after discussing with the concerned authorities.
Patuakhali District Council Administrator Snehangshu Sarkar Kutty said that the abandoned buildings will be inspected within 1 month. After the inspection, measures will be taken to reconstruct the abandoned buildings.
