Post office staff work in a death trap
Left without any repair for the last ten years, this ramshackle building still houses Patuakhali Post Office, much to the risk of the staff as well as visitors.Photo: STAR
Officials and employees at Patuakhali Post Office work amid risk as the 40-year-old building remains in an awfully dilapidated condition due to lack of renovation. Activities of the post office are hampered while over 50 staff as well as people who come here for different purposes get scared as plaster often falls off the roofs and walls. During a visit to the building on Thursday, this correspondent saw chunks of plaster at several places on the floor. Rods of the roof is visible at places. Electric cables are hanging at several places of the building, making the staff and visitors highly vulnerable. "We are working here amid risk as pieces of plaster often fall off the roofs and walls of the two-storied ramshackle building. Rainwater enters the building, causing us a lot of suffering and wetting valuable documents," said Postmaster Shakhawat Hossain. "After the building was constructed in 1970, renovation work was done only once in 2000. Since then no major renovation work has been done here due to lack of fund," he said. "We sent several letters to the higher authorities concerned demanding immediate steps for renovation of the building but to no effect. They asked us to shift the office to a hired house but it is not an easy task as there are many important documents here," he said. "I got scared during my five-minute stay inside the post office as plaster fell off the roof. The office should be shifted as soon as possible to avert serious accident anytime," said Iqbal Hossain, who came to the office to post a letter.
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