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Swadhinata Stambha back on track

ABDUL KADER
Construction work of the Swadhinata Stambha (Independence Monument) at the Suhrawardy Udyan is set to restart within the next couple of months after a gap of over two years.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) has approved a revised plan of the stalled project in its August 25 meeting and officials believe work could resume soon.
"We will place the revised project proposal to the cabinet's purchase committee for approval. Construction work could begin on completion of necessary formalities," Prof. Rezaul Karim, state minister for Liberation War Affairs told the Daily Star over phone.
" I am personally looking after the matter and hopefully we can finish the job by the end of this year."
Sources said almost 60 percent of the monument's work had been com-
pleted when complications arose due to alleged irregularities in the project.
The Awami League government initiated the construction of the 81 crore taka project in 1998. However, with the inclusion of a 150 feet high glass tower which was not part of the original plan, in the design, the project's overall cost shot to Tk. 171 crore in 2001.
Any project with a budget over Tk. 25 crore must have the approval of the government's purchase committee.
But the monument apparently bypassed that rule also.
A case has been filed with the Bureau of Anti-corruption accusing nine persons including the former Project Director AKM Shahiduzzaman for giving a work order that went over the 8.99 per cent limit, according to Liberation War ministry sources.
The BNP-led four party alliance government suspended the construction just after taking office. Now the authorities want to ensure no further controversies in the revised proposal.
"We want to proceed with all necessary approvals so that there are no fresh complications," said Rezaul Karim.
The revised proposal includes an alternative tower instead of the glass one and could be erected without any addition to the Tk. 81 crore budget.
Sprawling over an area of 67 acres, the monument will honour all martyrs and war heroes of liberation struggle from 1948 to1971.
It will house an underground theatre, an underground museum and a 157-seat audio-visual auditorium, which will be free for the public. The complex will also contain a display gallery, a boundary wall and a decorative fountain.
To facilitate construction the government handed over the project to the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs from the Ministry of Public Works.