Chief Adviser’s Special Assistant on the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, Faiz Ahmad Taiyeb, has stated that the government has no plans to construct any establishment in the city’s Korail slum. The announcement was made in a post on his official Facebook account.
He addressed what he described as an “unexpected proposal” to construct a high-tech park in the area, calling upon private software sector entrepreneurs to refrain from making such statements, particularly when hundreds of people are homeless. The statement specifically mentioned that Almas Kabir has been making such proposals verbally and in writing, but that the government has not taken the proposal into consideration due.
Taiyeb clarified that approximately 43 acres of land in the Korail slum belongs to the Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park Authority, but the authority has never taken possession of it. He explained that the land was previously owned by T&T, now BTCL, and that a pending court case over the land has prevented the ICT Division from even attempting to take possession.
Referencing a previous software park in Janata Tower, Karwan Bazar, the special assistant noted that about 100 IT companies were housed there before the building’s vulnerable condition necessitated urgent repairs and their relocation. He stated that at that time, no long-term alternative for the software industry was initiated.
The government is now constructing a new building to establish a software park in Karwan Bazar, he said. He added that late last year, the issue of setting up a software park on a small, slum-free part of the plot, Banani Corner, was raised. Following discussions with human rights activists, the ICT Division decided to refrain from any infrastructure planning in the Korail slum, the official said in the statement.
Rather than developing in Korail, the ICT Division has sent separate letters to the Public Works Department and Rajuk requesting land in Agargaon, Purbachal, or other areas of Dhaka for a software park. Taiyeb stated that paperwork is progressing to allocate a plot in Agargaon for the Bangladesh Hi-Tech Park, with a “green leaf” project planned to construct head offices for the software park, Hi-Tech Park, and other infrastructure. The Public Works Department has responded positively to this initiative.
He concluded by urging private entrepreneurs to be careful with their public statements, which he said do not reflect government plans. He condemned what he characterised as a malicious attempt to embarrass the government by raising the issue of a high-tech park, especially while hundreds of people are in a helpless situation following a fire.
