The fire-affected building聽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聽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.聽
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 鈥撯�� 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.聽
鈥楽ome evidence will be tested tonight,鈥� he said, adding, 鈥榓fter that we will sit again tomorrow [Tuesday] and will reach a conclusion on the preliminary report.鈥�
Nasimul said that they were expecting to submit the report by 5:00pm on Tuesday.聽
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.聽
He said that there were 40鈥�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.聽
The affected offices were relocated at different departments temporarily聽
The home ministry on December 27 suspended journalists鈥� 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.聽
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.聽
Mohammad Billal Hossain, deputy commissioner, was given the responsibility of security division at the secretariat.聽
A firefighter was killed and four others were injured in a road accident during operations to extinguish the fire.
