Housing and Public Works Minister SM Rezaul Karim has said a final decision regarding the demolition of the BGMEA building will be taken by April 25.
He made the statement while talking to the media after a meeting with Rajuk at the Secretariat on Wednesday morning.
He said: "Once we get the tenders on April 24, we will decide by April 25 about which organization gets the work of demolishing the building.
“If we do not get a suitable tender, then we will demolish it ourselves using modern techniques. In that case, all responsibilities for demolishing the building will be ours."
The 15-storey building stands on a crucial point in Dhaka, blocking water flow between Hatirjheel lake and Begunbari canal; and has been described by the Supreme Court as “a cancer in the Hatirjheel project.”
The High Court first ordered the BGMEA to move forward with demolition work on April 3, 2011. The association filed a leave to appeal against the verdict which was later dismissed by the court.
In June 2016, the Appellate Division upheld the High Court verdict ordering the demolition of the structure, with the BGMEA to bear the cost of demolition.
On March 5, 2017, the Appellate Division rejected the review petition for the verdict for the demolition project.
Later, the association sought a year’s extension to the latest deadline to demolish the building.
Following the plea, the Supreme Court, in April 2018, granted BGMEA one more year to tear down its complex.
At the time, the court ordered the association to submit an undertaking with the condition that the BGMEA would not seek another extension — after the current one it applied for expired.
