Secretariat Moving to Sher-e-Bangla Nagar: Cabinet Gives In-Principle Approval, Offices Planned at the New Address from 2029

The Bangladesh Secretariat is being moved to Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital. The cabinet has given in-principle approval to the proposal to set up the new Secretariat on the old trade fair ground. This historic decision was taken at a cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Sunday (18 October) afternoon. Related reports said there are plans to begin offices at the new location from 2029.

The cabinet's decision was announced at a press conference after the meeting. Top officials of the Ministry of Public Works, the Public Works Department and the Department of Architecture were present at the meeting held at the Prime Minister's Office. The decision is therefore significant not only as a political announcement, but also in terms of administrative and technical preparation.

At present the Secretariat is located on Abdul Gani Road. According to information from the press briefing, at the current location there are 13 buildings on 17.57 acres of land. Of these, eight buildings were constructed before independence. The old buildings number 1, 2, 3 and 8 were built between 1937 and 1939, and building number 5 was built in 1947.

These old buildings are the biggest argument in favour of relocation. The briefing said these buildings were not built to be earthquake-resistant. As a result, there remains a risk in running the country's most important government offices in earthquake-prone Dhaka city - thousands of officials, employees and service-seekers move through these buildings every day.

Alongside the risk is a space crisis. Due to the lack of adequate working space and wash blocks for officials and employees, it is becoming difficult to maintain a normal and healthy working environment. At present the Secretariat has about 1,876,000 square feet of office space. More than another 1,000,000 square feet is needed to meet the additional demands of various ministries and to accommodate offices located outside the Secretariat compound.

It is in this situation that the proposal has been made to establish the Secretariat on the old trade fair ground in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar. The Department of Architecture has prepared a conceptual design following Louis I. Kahn's masterplan. From the concept of the design, it appears the new complex has been planned in harmony with the architectural heritage of the National Parliament Building area.

According to the proposed design, 14 buildings of 12 storeys with three basements will be constructed on about 31.58 acres of land. It will have a total space of about 3,316,000 square feet - almost double the office space of the current Secretariat. This will create the opportunity to bring offices scattered outside under one umbrella.

There will be parking arrangements for 3,800 cars, of which 200 will be in surface parking. Traffic congestion and parking crises in the current Secretariat area are a daily suffering - it appears this plan for the new complex has been drawn from that experience.

The proposed complex will have a mosque, two multipurpose halls with a capacity of 350 people, a cafeteria, a post office and all other necessary facilities. There are plans to reserve about 30 percent of the project area for greenery and water bodies, so that environmental balance is maintained amid the crowd of concrete.

In-principle approval does not mean the work is finished - it is the first formal step of a long process. Now comes the turn of detailed design, cost determination and project approval. However, if the plan being discussed - to start offices at the new Secretariat from 2029 - is implemented, the era of the nearly century-old administrative centre on Abdul Gani Road will end and a new chapter will begin in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.

This decision to relocate the Secretariat is therefore not just news of a change of buildings. Earthquake risk, working environment, space crisis and the demands of a modern administration - altogether, this decision will affect the country's entire administrative system. Only when the project's details, cost and schedule are published in the coming days will it be understood how quickly the plan moves from paper to the field.