IN 1971 when Bangladesh achieved its independence, hundreds of thousands of homes in the capital were made of either thatched or corrugated iron (CI) sheets. Residential buildings constructed by bricks and cement were sparsely located. In the later part of 70's the government allotted Tk 1,000 million to Bangladesh House Building Corporation (BHBFC) from the aid received from Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. HBFC lent the money to construct houses to private land owners in Dhaka and other district towns at an interest of 5.0 per cent, 7.5 per cent and 10 per cent per annum to construct four to six storied buildings. The loan was repayable in 35 years. Land owners had to invest 10 per cent of the estimated cost of the building including cost of land.
After 45 years of independence, it is really difficult to locate a thatched or CI sheet house in urban areas. In district towns including capital Dhaka there are huge areas of vacant land for housing purpose. But the land owners cannot construct houses for lack of fund. Prices of construction materials have increased manifold during the last couple of decades. Huge fund is required to construct houses and as a result, land owners are being compelled to go into a partnership arrangement with real estate developers to develop their lands as HBFC has not been able to lend money due to shortage of funds. Interest rate was also increased to discourage borrowers. Print media report that BHBFC sent several proposals to the Ministry of Finance and the Bangladesh Bank for fund to cater to the demand of land owners but neither the MoF nor the BB responded. The real estate developer companies took advantage of the situation and started asking exorbitantly high prices for apartments which very few people could afford. Consequently house rents also increased. As a public sector undertaking, BHBFC should come forward and lend money to land owners on easy terms so that apartment prices and house rent come down to affordable levels. BHBFC has shown in the past its capability to handle the lending process well. All it needs is fund from the government to accelerate construction of houses. Housing is the third basic right of citizens according to the country's constitution and I would like to request the government to extend funds to HBFC and help citizens achieve their right.
Md. Ashraf Hossain
8/A, Ramna, Dhaka-1000.
[email protected]
