Tk 150 crore down the drain?
Dhaka South
City Corporation (DSCC) built two modern slaughterhouses to ensure hygienic
animal slaughtering -- one in Old Dhaka's Kaptan Bazar and another in
Hazaribagh of the Dhanmondi area. The Hazaribagh slaughterhouse has remained
idle for six years since its inauguration. The Kaptan Bazar facility remains
unused even though it was completed one and a half years ago. City dwellers are
yet to reap any benefit from these ventures, costing around Tk 150 crore.
Residents and urban planners
say these much-hyped "modern" slaughterhouses have turned into white
elephants.
Urban
planner Prof Adil Muhammad Khan, president of the Bangladesh Institute of
Planners, told The Daily Star, "Before implementing any project,
feasibility studies must be done to assess viability. DSCC did not conduct
these studies for Hazaribagh and Kaptan Bazar slaughterhouses. Had it been
done, such costly projects would not have remained idle or become burdens. The
corporation must take responsibility."
DSCC invited tenders four
times to lease out the facilities, but no firms applied. Officials said the
city corporation lacks the manpower and expertise to run them. Informal
approaches fell apart as well.
The Hazaribagh
slaughterhouse, built at Gojmohal, cost Tk 81.19 crore. It was designed to
slaughter 30 cows and 60 goats per hour for 16 hours daily. Another Tk 15 crore
was later spent on imported machinery. Former mayor Mohammad Sayeed Khokon
inaugurated it in 2019, though construction was incomplete. No animal has been
slaughtered there since.
The Kaptan Bazar
slaughterhouse, started in 2018, was delayed for years due to contractor's
negligence. Completed in May 2023 at a cost of Tk 52 crore, it has also
remained locked.
A recent visit found the
five-storied Hazaribagh slaughterhouse shut, covered in dust, and unguarded.
Just outside the Kaptan Bazar site, shops continue roadside slaughtering, with
goats tied up waiting to be killed.
Local shopkeeper Rofiqul
Islam said, "Butchers slaughter animals in front of their shops and clean
the blood and waste themselves. If the slaughterhouse opened, it would benefit
everyone."
DSCC records show the first
Hazaribagh tender in December 2022 set the lease fee at Tk 8.56 crore for three
years, but no bidders came. Even after lowering the fee to Tk 6.16 crore in
September 2023 and floating two more tenders, no interest was shown. A new
tender is being prepared for Kaptan Bazar.
A property department
official, seeking anonymity, said, "Doubts over anyone ever using these
slaughterhouses remain. That is why no operator has come forward despite
lowering the lease fees."
DSCC chief property officer
Hasiba Khan admitted their failure to find an operator. She added that the
Kaptan Bazar slaughterhouse was still under the Engineering Department due to
incomplete electrical work.
DSCC's health division claims
the two units are fully equipped for hygienic slaughtering.
Chief health officer Dr
Nishat Parveen told The Daily Star, "Our veterinary officers currently
monitor slaughtering in the city to the best of their capacity. But both
slaughterhouses have arrangements for hygienic processing. Once operational,
more regional slaughterhouses will be built. We will also ensure that no
animals are slaughtered outside once the facilities open."