Shahjalal Fertiliser Factory
AL leaders 'obstruct' land development
Land development work for construction of the proposed Shahjalal Fertiliser Factory in Fenchuganj upazila has remained suspended since June 4 after the assigned contractor firm faced obstruction from the local Awami League leaders.
The local leaders claimed that they struggled for years to get the project approved, and it was locals, not a firm from Dhaka, who should do the work, Nazrul Islam Shipon, site manager of the firm, Brothers Group, said yesterday.
He said a day after the start of the work on June 2, the Upazila AL President Shaokat Ali and General Secretary Abdul Basit Tutul came to the camp office and asked him to stop the work. The land development project is worth about Tk 6 crore, he said.
Contacted, Shaokat Ali admitted to the incident and said he informed the matter to the local lawmaker who was looking into the whole affair.
The AL leader said it was a huge project, involving more than Tk 5,000 crore, being implemented by a Chinese company. But the locals have the right to do the small works like land development, and this is why they have asked the firm to stop, he said.
Md Quamruzzaman, project director of Shahjalal Fertiliser Factory, said he along with the lawmaker visited the site yesterday. The matter is not a serious one, and it would be resolved very soon, he added.
Asked about the locals' demand for the land development work, he said it was not possible for them since some sophisticated equipment were needed for the job. As many as 18 dump trucks, two excavators, two pay-loaders and a dodger were in operation for the work.
On March 24, the prime minister laid the foundation of the factory in the vacant land adjoining Natural Gas Fertiliser Factory (NGFF). A Chinese company has been given the contract to install the factory, which later appointed Brothers Group for the land development.
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