Ploy to grab playground
Siddheswari school rents out playground to raise funds
Eight shops being constructed on the playground of Siddheswari Boys' Higher Secondary School in the city after the management committee leased out the space to meet fund shortages. The photo was taken yesterday. Photo: SHawkat Jamil
Management of a city school in Siddheswari, in an attempt to generate funds, rented out a portion of its playground, causing apprehension among the locals that the entire playground might be slowly occupied. The governing body of Siddheswari Boys' Higher Secondary School issued a work order on August 22 in favour of RS Communication, the lease holder, to build eight shops on the playground's south end for Tk 16 lakhs. Abdur Rahim Hawlader Rana, proprietor of RS Communication, around 10 years ago, rented the same space, around ten kathas, for a car park of a nearby Anarkoli Plus Shopping Market, which he owns. Rana started constructing the shops on Thursday, just a day after Eid-ul-Fitr, in an unusual hurry, said local small vendors close to the playground. Ramna police, however, halted the construction work the same day following complaints from the locals. The playground is also occupied with several other structures including an office of RS Communication, an electricity generator which Rana runs commercially and a tin-shed structure. Rana, on a separate lease, runs 26 shops on a nearby plot owned by the school, for which he paid Tk 3 lakh. He said he entered into the new contract as the school authorities invited him. According to documents, the governing body Chairman Md Shoeab Chowdhury and the school's Principal Abul Bashar issued the work order according to the minutes of a meeting they signed on August 16. "There was no other option to generate money for the school, which is suffering from fund crisis," said Shoeab. Regarding whether they sought any permission of the capital's development authorities for construction of the structures, he said he was unaware of such requirement. "But we may give up the move in the face of public criticism," said Shoeab, also vice-president of Dhaka city unit of ruling party-backed Jubo League.
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