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Developers seek govt intervention to rein in high prices of MS rod

Star Business Report
Developers have asked for immediate government intervention to arrest the skyrocketing prices of mild steel (MS) to keep apartments at the reach of middle-income group.
According to Mukarram Husain Khan, president of the Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB), the price of this raw material for the construction industry marked a 12 percent rise over the last 15 days.
"At present, MS rod is selling at Tk 55,000 a tonne, while the rate was Tk 52,000. I fear the price will hit at Tk 60,000 per tonne in the
local market very shortly, if the government does not come up with its mechanism to rein in the prices of the item," Khan told a press conference at the National Press Club in Dhaka yesterday.
The journalists were briefed about the forthcoming REHAB fair in Chittagong.
The 3-day fair is going to be held in the port city for the second time fromThursdaynext.
The chief of the developers' association hoped that the fair will be able to attract potential buyers of the country's commercial hub.
Convener of the Chittagong REHAB Fair Kazi Aynul Hoque said
developers have handed over 2000 ready flats to the customers in Chittagong since 2001.
Of the 45 real estate companies in total, 22 are Chittagong based, he said.
To be held at the Engineers' Institute, Chittagong, the fair will have 45 stalls. Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) Chairman Shah Mohammad Akter Hossain is scheduled to inaugurate the fair
REHAB General Secretary Tanveerul Haque Probal said the middle-income dwellers will find flats affordable if the government provides those customers more loans at 8-10 percent interest.
Under the government's cur-
rent housing scheme, the dwellers in the metropolitan areas get loans at 12 percent interest and the dwellers outside the metropolitan areas credits at 10 percent.
Probal complained that the Rajdhani Unnayan Katripakkha (Rajuk) is not cooperating with the developers in passage of plans under its 'one window programme', although the government launched such a facility two years back.
Rajuk is supposed to pass a construction-plan within 45 days after its submission, he said. "But. the development authority does not comply with this norm," Probal lamented.