[🇧🇩] Secretariat Fire----Indo-Awami Conspiracy

[Saif]

Work disrupted at 5 fire-hit ministries

Routine works of the five ministries affected by a fire in the past week were disrupted on Sunday as their offices at new locations were yet to be ready.

www.newagebd.net

Work disrupted at 5 fire-hit ministries
Staff Correspondent 29 December, 2024, 17:06

Routine works of the five ministries affected by a fire in the past week were disrupted on Sunday as their offices at new locations were yet to be ready.

Repairing and construction works continued on the day at several offices temporarily allocated for the offices and staff of the five ministries.

Security measures at the secretariat were beefed up and even journalists were not allowed to enter the secretariat on Sunday.

Journalists Information and broadcasting adviser Nahid Islam at a briefing said that the home ministry would issue temporary passes from today for journalists assigned to cover the secretariat.

The eight-member committee, formed on December 26 to probe into the fire incident, is scheduled for today to submit a preliminary report to chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus today, said chief adviser’s deputy press secretary Abul Kalam Azad Majumder.

A fire broke out in Building 7 at the secretariat, the administrative headquarters of the government, in the capital on early December 26, burning offices and documents of five ministries –– the local government, rural development and co-operatives ministry, the post and telecommunication ministry, te youth and sports ministry, the labour and employment ministry and the road transport and bridges ministry.

No case was filed for the incident yet.

In a release issued by the local government ministry on Saturday, adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain said that from Sunday the ministry would start official works in the vacant rooms in the Dhaka South City Corporation Nagar Bhaban.

In the Nagar Bhaban, the 13th and 14th floors and one side of the 12th floor have been allocated for the ministry.

On Sunday noon, no ministry officials were seen working at the offices.

Some of the empty rooms were seen with fresh painting while some were awaiting painting.

Workers were seen repairing the rooms and doing other construction works.

One of the workers said that it would take at least one week to fix these rooms.

According to a ministry decision, 10 rooms at Rail Bhaban were allocated for the Road Transport and Highways Division secretary and additional secretaries while the rest of the officials and employees were scheduled to resume work at the DTCA Bhaban in the capital.

Only the room for the senior secretary Md Ehsanul Haque was prepared at the Rail Bhaban where construction works found to continue Sunday noon.

The senior secretary did not come to the office on Sunday.

Some of the officials were seen sitting inside the empty rooms and talking with each other.

Construction materials were seen all over at these two buildings.

Labour and employment ministry public relation officer Abdul Malek said that the rooms were yet to be allocated among the ministry officials at the Sramo Bhaban on Sunday.

Posts and Telecommunications Division deputy secretary Mohammad Moklesur Rahman said that the affected ministry officials had resumed their work at the General Post Office.

Bangladesh Sangbad Sanstha reported that the government would start issuing temporary passes for journalists from today to enter the secretariat.

‘Information and broadcasting ministry is re-evaluating the accreditation cards …New permanent or temporary accreditation cards and passes will be issued soon,’ said an official handout on Sunday.

All vehicles but the cars carrying the advisers, secretaries and chiefs of different departments are being barred from entering the secretariat, official sources said.

The officers and employees having their offices at the secretariat were allowed to enter showing their permanent identity card.

The home ministry introduced separate booths on Abdul Gani Road for visitors for emergency needs.

At a briefing in front of State Guest House Jamuna in Dhaka on Sunday, chief adviser’s deputy press secretary Azad Majumder said that no accreditation cards of the journalists had been cancelled.

‘Right now the secretariat is a crime scene and the government is conducting the probe with the highest importance,’ he said, adding that access to the secretariat was restricted to protect the crime scene.

Replying to a question, Azad Majumder said that the chief adviser would decide if the preliminary probe report would be shared with the media or not and right now it could not be said for sure how many days would be required to complete the entire probe.

The government would review the accreditation cards to cancel the cards of the people who were not journalists, he added.

The briefing was attended, among others, by press secretary Shafiqul Alam.

A firefighter was killed and four others were injured in a road accident during operations to extinguish the fire.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Ramna zone additional deputy commissioner Mir Asaduzzaman told New Age that a case was under process for the death.

Earlier, a general diary was filed in this incident with the Shahbagh police station on Friday, he added.​

 

[Saif]

Fire-hit secretariat building repairable

The fire-affected building 7 at the Bangladesh Secretariat is repairable according to a primary assessment of the Public Works Department while the committee formed to investigate the fire on...

www.newagebd.net

Fire-hit secretariat building repairable
Staff Correspondent 31 December, 2024, 01:36

The fire-affected building 7 at the Bangladesh Secretariat is repairable according to a primary assessment of the Public Works Department while the committee formed to investigate the fire on December 26 is scheduled for today to submit its preliminary report to the chief adviser.

Senior secretary to the home ministry Nasimul Gani, also the head of the eight-member committee, said on Monday that the committee was asked to submit the preliminary report by Monday but he obtained permission from the Cabinet Division to submit it today.

Nasimul also said that some of the evidence would be sent abroad for laboratory tests as Bangladesh did not have the capacity to test those evidence.

The evidence to be sent abroad are fire-related materials, he added.

The housing and public works ministry said that the affected building 7 was repairable as per their primary observation and after a full assessment it could be said when it would become usable again in its entirety.

Some journalists were allowed to enter the secretariat in the capital on Monday amid restrictions on entry of others.

Repairing and construction works continued on Monday at several offices temporarily allocated for the five fire-hit ministries.

A fire broke out in the building at the secretariat, the administrative headquarters of the government, on early December 26, burning offices and documents of five ministries –– the local government, rural development and co-operatives ministry, the post and telecommunication ministry, the youth and sports ministry, the labour and employment ministry and the road transport and bridges ministry.

The fire spread from the 6th floor to the 9th floor of the building. The building is now sealed off for all but the people involved in the probe.

Nasimul Gani told reporters at the secretariat that primarily the committee was asked to submit a preliminary report by Monday while he took permission from the Cabinet Division for the extension of the timeframe.

He mentioned that different teams of the police, the Public Works Department and the Information and Communication Technology Division were collecting evidence separately from the spot even on Monday.

‘Some evidence will be tested tonight,’ he said, adding, ‘after that we will sit again tomorrow [Tuesday] and will reach a conclusion on the preliminary report.’

Nasimul said that they were expecting to submit the report by 5:00pm on Tuesday.

The results of the laboratory tests of evidence which would be sent abroad would be included in the final report, he said, adding that they were trying to complete the probe as soon as possible.

Public Works Department deputy assistant engineer Md Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan also talked to journalists on the day while visiting the building 7.

He said that there were 40–50 rooms in each of the floors while some floors were entirely and some were partially damaged.

The floors which were partially damaged would become usable within a week while after a full assessment it could be ascertained how many days would be needed to repair the heavily damaged parts, Mannan continued.

The affected offices were relocated at different departments temporarily

The home ministry on December 27 suspended journalists’ entry into the secretariat using their accreditation cards and cancelled all temporary entry passes for general people due to security concerns.

Information and broadcasting adviser Nahid Islam at a briefing said that the home ministry would issue temporary passes from Monday for journalists assigned to cover the secretariat.

Following these, some journalists were allowed to the secretariat at about 2:00pm on Monday.

The usual busy scenario inside the secretariat was absent on the day as no vehicles but the cars carrying officials of the ranks of additional secretary and above were allowed inside.

The Dhaka Metropolitan Police in an order, issued on Sunday, transferred deputy commissioner M Tanvir Ahmed, who was in the security division of the secretariat, to the south division.

Mohammad Billal Hossain, deputy commissioner, was given the responsibility of security division at the secretariat.

A firefighter was killed and four others were injured in a road accident during operations to extinguish the fire.​

 

[Saif]

No documents from five ministries were burnt in Secretariat fire, says probe chief

Nasimul Gani, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs and head of the high-level investigation committee formed to probe the fire at the Secretariat, has confirmed that no documents from five ministries were burned in the incident. He said that while there were concerns about the potentia

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

No documents from five ministries were burnt in Secretariat fire, says probe chief
FE ONLINE DESK
Published :
Dec 31, 2024 20:35
Updated :
Dec 31, 2024 20:40

Nasimul Gani, Senior Secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs and head of the high-level investigation committee formed to probe the fire at the Secretariat, has confirmed that no documents from five ministries were burned in the incident.

He said that while there were concerns about the potential loss of important documents in the fire, in reality, no documents were harmed. The fire did not reach the areas where the ministries' documents are stored.

Gani shared this information during a press briefing in front of the Jamuna State Guesthouse on Tuesday evening (December 31).

The head of the investigation committee further informed that committee members had visited various ministries and confirmed that no documents had been burned.

He also mentioned that each ministry is individually inspecting whether any important documents were damaged. Additionally, the ministries are separately assessing the extent of the damage to their offices.

Regarding the total financial loss caused by the fire at the Secretariat, Gani said that the exact figure is not yet known.​

 

[Saif]

SECRETARIAT FIRE: Affected ministry committees start assessing damage

Committees formed by different affected ministries to probe the December 26 fire at the Bangladesh Secretariat in the capital Dhaka started to assess the damage caused by the fire on Monday, 11 days after the incident...

www.newagebd.net

SECRETARIAT FIRE: Affected ministry committees start assessing damage
Staff Correspondent 06 January, 2025, 23:26

New Age file photo

Committees formed by different affected ministries to probe the December 26 fire at the Bangladesh Secretariat in the capital Dhaka started to assess the damage caused by the fire on Monday, 11 days after the incident.

Members of different committees were allowed to enter the affected four floors (5th to 8th) of the damaged Building 7 on the day.

The members said that they were not sure when they would submit the reports.

On Sunday, the first five floors of the damaged building were opened for offices after the fire incident.

The fire that broke out at the Building 7 at the secretariat, the administrative headquarters of the government, early December 26, 2024 burned offices and documents of five ministries –– local government, rural development and co-operatives, posts and telecommunications, youth and sports, labour and employment and road transport and bridges.

The fire spread from the 5th floor to the 8th floor of the building with each floor having 40–50 rooms. The affected offices were relocated temporarily to different departments.

A high-powered committee, formed on December 26 to probe the fire incident, in its preliminary report on December 31 said that a loose electrical connection caused the fire and the probe body did not find involvement of any person in the incident.

Soon after the incident different affected ministries formed probe committees mainly to prepare lists of important documents and records damaged, assess the losses of property such as furniture, electronic devices and others, find out the reasons of the fire and submit reports with the findings and recommendations to prevent similar incidents in the future.

‘Our committee members today have got access to the damaged part of the building where our office was located,’ road transport and bridges ministry adviser Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan told New Age on Monday.

He mentioned that as the members could not enter the building till Monday, they could not start assessing damage that occurred to the offices of the Road Transport and Highways Division situated on the 8th floor.

‘The committee will submit a report within five working days,’ the adviser added.

On December 26, the labour ministry formed two separate committees and asked the committees to submit their reports within seven working days.

Begum Morsheda Akter, joint secretary at the ministry and the head of one of the committees, said that they got permission to enter the building’s damaged parts on Monday and started the assessment of the damage and losses.

She said that they would set the date of submitting the reports after discussing the matter with senior officials.

On the day of the fire, the local government ministry formed two separate probe committees without mentioning any dates for the submission of reports.

Local Government Division additional secretary AKM Tariqul Alam, convener of one of the committees, said that their committee also started assessing the damage in the building on Monday.

After gathering information on the damage, they would submit the report, he added.

Mohammad Shafiul Arif, Rural Development and Co-operatives Division additional secretary, convener of another committee, said that after conducting assessment works, which started on Monday, they would submit the report to the division.​