The government has allotted 9.7 acres (nearly 30 bighas) of the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium (popularly known as Abahani field) to Abahani Krira Chakra Ltd on a 99-year lease, according to sources at the Public Works Department (PWD).
In a Ministry of Works letter dated August 17, the field was allotted to Abahani club on condition that the area could only be used for sports. It said that no commercial structure or market could be built on the allotted area.
Moreover, no changes could be brought in to the existing sports facilities in the field except 'development of facilities related to sports and social activities', the ministerial letter read. It was not clear what 'social activities' meant but PWD officials said it could be a 'community centre'.
PWD officials quoting the letter said the lease was given in line with the existing law but the ministry did not charge any money for the land 'as it does for any 99-year lease allotment'. The official 99-year lease price of one bigha of Dhanmondi land is now Tk 80 lakh.
``The club will only have to pay a yearly salami (fee) of Tk 50,000 to the ministry which must be paid by December 31 every year,'' said a top PWD official.
He said that Ministry of Works is the owner of the field. In 1977 the field was placed under the custody of National Sports Council (NSC) 'for sports activities and caretaking'. The NSC subsequently turned it into an official cricket ground.
``But about two years ago the Sports Ministry, without even asking the Works Ministry, handed over a 99-year lease to the club,'' the official said.
But in a recent inter-ministerial meeting, the Sports Minister admitted the mistake and requested the Works Minister to rectify it, the official said.
Meanwhile, Abahani club officials wrote to the Prime Minister and the Works Ministry requesting for an additional chunk of the field for constructing a shopping centre facing the Satmasjid Road, Ministry of Works sources said.
The Works Ministry official said that request for construction of shopping centre was made on the ground that Abahani 'needed a permanent source of income'.
Ministerial officials also said that the move to lease out the field was unprecedented. ``No other club in the country has ever been given a field in the past,'' said an official.