Dinajpur BKSP may fall silent from tomorrow

The administrative building of BKSP complex in Dinajpur may not be lively with sports lovers and fans from tomorrow any more. PHOTO: STAR

Thirty-five employees including coaches will no more be in service. Their services were under a development project of the youth and sports ministry, which ends today.

Their services have not been transferred under the revenue budget while construction of the sports complex is yet to be completed.

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"Thirty-five employees including myself will be unemployed from tomorrow", lamented Shamima Sattar Mimu, Deputy Director of the BKSP while talking to newsmen at her office yesterday. "Today is my last day in office".

She said their services have not been transferred under the revenue budget while the project period ends on June 30. The sports training centre was set up by the Ministry of Youth and Sports under its development head.

The training institute's fate is now uncertain as there will not be any more expenditure, development work and salaries for 35 employees, she said.

An amount of Tk 13.5 crore has so far been spent for creating sports training facilities, officials at the institute said. Training facilities including two playgrounds, a swimming pool, hockey stadium, gymnasium, administrative building, a 100-bed hostel for trainees, staff quarter have been completed since the work began in 1997. But many facilities are yet to be built.

The complex was built under a government plan for two sports training institutes, one in Dinajpur and the other in Chittagong.

The complex here has been set up on 12.4 acres of land along the Dinajpur-Dhaka highway, six miles from the town.

In the first phase, the past government had allocated Tk 4.5 crore in 2000-2001 and 2001-2002 financial years.

In the second phase, more Tk 9 crore was allocated for infrastructure development.

The BKSP authorities appointed 35 employees including one deputy director, one chief coach, two cricket coaches, two football coaches, two athletics coach and a watchman in the last two financial years.

It started functioning early last year. Since then, at least 10 sports meets including an under-14 cricket championship and a women's football championship were held in the complex.

On November 5 last year, State Minister for Youth and Sports Md. Fazlur Rahman visited the complex and expressed satisfaction over its performance. He told local people that he would request Prime Minister Khalada Zia to inaugurate the institute.