BANGLADESH

Forty real estate companies from Bangladesh are taking part in the three-day REHAB Housing Fair-2012 in New York, starting on Saturday (Sunday Bangladesh Time).

The fair is being held in the NTV Auditorium at the Bangladeshi-inhabited Astoria area. The State Minister for Housing and Public Works, Abdul Mannan Khan, will inaugurate the fair.

REHAB president and government MP Nasrul Hamid told a press conference at Jackson Heights on Thursday that the prices of flats have increased exponentially because of the rise in prices of building materials.

Therefore, the overall sales of flats and plots have declined by 43 percent, he said.

The REHAB Fair has been held for the past nine years in New York and 15,000 flats and 5,000 plots are sold yearly through REHAB's 12,000 member institutions, Hamid said adding that 15 per cent of the buyers are non-resident Bangladeshis.

However, the number of real estate customers in America is decreasing because of depression, he said.

He further said, "Considering the pace at which the real estate sector is developing, the government support for it is not as extensive. That is why the rules and regulations of this sector are still not established."

"Any company in Dhaka can get a real estate developer's license by paying Tk. 10,000. That is why there is no need for further qualifications. Land prices in Dhaka and its surrounding areas have sky-rocketed because the government does not have a specific policy to deal with them."

In reply to a question, Hamid expressed his dissatisfaction over the functioning of the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) and said, "Currently RAJUK has turned into a real estate business, so their main job is being disrupted.

"REHAB members are also not getting the expected services from RAJUK. Where there needs to be around 100 RAJUK officials, there are only six officials present."

He also called for a 'detail area master plan' as necessary for Dhaka's development.

SSB Multiservice Inc is the organising the fair.

A pavilion on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman has been set up at Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF) to provide information to people interested in knowing more about the Father of the Nation.

Export Processing Bureau (EPB), the organiser of the event, has set up the 'Bangabandhu and Bangladesh' pavilion.

EPB deputy director Anup Kanti Saha Tuesday told , "To inform people about the life and work of Bangabandhu, the pavilion was first set up in last year's fair."

"Our aim is to tell people about Bangabandhu's contribution to the country," he added.

A statue of Sheikh Mujib, made by Dhaka University's Institute of Fine Arts students, has been kept at the pavilion. Some 110 photos of the great leader, snapped in home and abroad, are on display alongside 27 books written on him. The pavilion also has 15 frames containing his quotes.

Two letters written by Sheikh Mujib are also being displayed in the pavilion: one to his wife Fazilatunnessa Mujib from the jail on April 16, 1959 and the other to his daughter Sheikh Hasina, then living in Italy, dated June 13, 1969.

In the letter written to his wife, Sheikh Mujib addressed her as 'Renu'. A visitor in the fair, Rehnuma Renu, smilingly said, "I didn't know his (Mujib) wife's name was Renu. It is really good to know that she was my namesake."

Sheikh Mujib's speeches are being screened through a projector in the pavilion. Six computers are showing information on different subjects like the leader's life, his still photos, video clippings, a documentary on digital Bangladesh and different activities of the present government during its past three-year rule.

Any visitor can have any information on any particular incident or aspect of Bangabandhu's life clicking on topics displayed on a touch-screen computer.

Tamal Adnan, a class eight student from Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Boys High School, was reading the historical March 7 speech. "I have seen this speech on TV earlier, here I read a part of it today," he said.

Two groups of a 30-member rover scout team are looking after the security of the pavilion in two shifts. "A large number of people visit this pavilion daily," they informed.

A visitor, Zahirul Alam, from the city's Kafrul was taking her daughter's photograph with Bangabandhu's statue in the background. He told , "We saw the War in 71. We know what Bangabandhu's contribution to the country was. The new generation does not have the luck to see him (Mujib)... It's a matter of pride to have a photograph standing before his statue."

A lot other were also seek taking snaps in front of the statue. A cloth merchant from Old Dhaka Mohammad Nazrul said, "Camera is not allowed in 32, Dhanmondi's Bangabandhu Memorial Museum. I had a dream to take a photo there. Today I am happy having taken a photo in front of Bangabandhu's statue."

Zahir appreciated and thanked the authorities for the arrangement.

A group of army personnel killed Sheikh Mujib along with most of his family members and close relatives on Aug 15, 1975. Amongst his five children, Sheikh Hasina is the eldest. During the brutal Aug 15 massacre, all his immediate family members, except his two daughters Hasina and Sheikh Rehana, were gunned down. The two sisters were abroad then.

A total of 12 former army officials were sentenced to death in Sheikh Mujib murder case in 2007. And after a long 35 years' of wait, five were hanged in 2010. Another died abroad.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the trade fair on Sunday. A total of 47 foreign firms from Pakistan, India, China, Iran, South Korea, Thailand, the United States, Singapore, Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates are participating in the fair.

The fair will remain open from 10 am to 10 pm everyday with a Tk 20 ticket for elders and Tk 10 ticket for children.

Total number of stalls in this year's trade fair is 505. Amongst them, there are 50 premiere pavilions, 44 reserved pavilions, 36 premiere mini-pavilions, 15 reserved mini-pavilions, 47 premiere stalls and 30 general stalls.

For the visitors, the trade fair is also accommodating three mother-and-child service centres, six restaurants and a children's amusement park.