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Adamjee Jute Mills

Pond stands in way of industrial park

Reiaul Karim Byron
The Ministry of Industries is at loggerheads with the Planning Commission over filling up a pond and building a road on the former Adamjee Jute Mills premises, stalling finalisation of the project concept paper (PCP) to set up a private industrial parktherc.
The ministry wants to fill up seven of the eight ponds but the commission favours filling up six, arguing at least two ponds need to be retained in the proposed Adamjee Industrial Park to strike an ecological balance, according to sources.
The ministry, however, says the pond which is the bone of contention is sprawled over 11.30 acres and 27 industrial plots are to be built on the land to open up job opportuni-
ties to 49,000 people.
The government closed down the Adamjee Jute Mills, which used to be the biggest jute mill in Asia, on July I, 2002, in line with donors' prescription as it continued to incur huge losses.
Some 26,000 workers lost their job when the mill was closed down, but the government envisaged the industrial park would create job opportunities for as many as nine lakh people.
As for the road, the Planning Commission wants to have a brick road to cut down on project costs, while the ministry wants a concrete road reasoning that the proposed industrial park should have roads like those in the export processing zones.
Bangladesh Small and Cottage
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Industries Corporation (BSCIC), the authority to implement the project by June 2006, fears missing the deadline as it is getting late to finalise the PCP, let alone having the project approved by the Executive Committee on the National Economic Council (Ecnec). The BSCIC was scheduled to start working on the project on July 1.
The BSCIC on June 2 last year prepared the PCP, but it was not finalised, as the government remained undecided about the value of the land and the type of industries. The Planning Commission at a pre-Ecnec meeting on June 21 laid down fresh guidelines for the BSCIC to prepare a fresh PCP.
The difference of opinion about the pond and road has however been
delaying the PCP finalisation for the last two months, sources said.
An official of the ministry, asking not be named, said although thousands of people lost their job overnight, the government is yet to start work on the park, let alone creating jobs.
The revised PCP says the park will have 455 plots -- 332 for garment units, 81 for weaving and 42 for dying, finishing and printing units -- of half bigha, one bigha and two bigha area. Each bigha has been priced at Tk 60 lakh.
The park will be set on 292 acres, of which 198 acres will have industries, while the rest will be used for infrastructure including a container yard, banks, insurance companies, a police station, a power station and motels.