The work of a school building of Dakkhin Sorta Government Primary School at Chikdair union in Raozan upazila of Chattogram remained suspended for almost a year due to the negligence of the contractor.
When this correspondent visited the school, it was seen that the contractor abandoned the construction work of the building after completing the piling work. Due to the incomplete work and piling right beside the main building of the school, the foundation soil around the school building's pillars started tom erode, creating a life risk for the children. The students are not regularly attending school because of that.
It was learnt that under the Primary Education Development Project, the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) of the upazila allocated approximately Tk 1.1 crore for the construction of the school building. The contract to construct the school building was given to contractor Kazi Masud Rana. After completing the piling work for the school building on November 14 in 2023, the contractor has not carried out any further work.
After the fall of the Awami League government, contractor Kazi Masud Rana disappeared and abandoned the construction of the school building. The headmaster of Dakkhin Sortta Government Primary School, Mainuddin, said that after the foundation stone of the school building was inaugurated in November 2023, the contractor did the piling work but left the building construction work for over a year. This has caused problems in teaching and learning. The incomplete building has put them in a serious crisis.
Furthermore, the contractor left a large pit in front of the school, which has caused accidents involving students. If the school building is not completed soon, the educational activities of the school will face a severe threat. This school has 136 students and 5 teachers for teaching.
In response, contractor Kazi Masud Rana stated that the construction work was halted because the school authorities did not demarcate the boundaries of the land. He said that if the boundaries are marked, the work will resume within two to three days.
When asked about this, Raozan Upazila Engineer Abul Kalam said that contractor Masud was urged to start the construction work of the building soon. He mentioned that the construction would begin within seven days, and if the work is not started within that time, action will be taken against him.
