Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Wonderland eviction illegal: Management


DHAKA NEWS

The Wonderland amusement park authorities claimed on Tuesday that Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakhha (Rajuk) demolished a portion of the park on Monday without any legal basis.

The High Court asked Dhaka City Corporation and the Rajuk to provide an alternative site for Wonderland before eviction but the drive was carried out without complying with the HC’s direction, said GM Mostafizur Rahman, managing director of the Wonderland park.

The managing director was addressing a press conference at Jatiya Press Club in the capital, a day after Rajuk demolished a boundary wall of the park to free around 4-acre area of Gulshan central playground.

The DCC leased out the portion of Gulshan central playground to M/s Via Media, the owner company of Wonderland, admittedly through an anomalous process in 1990 to develop the commercial amusement park.

Rahman said on Tuesday that then city mayor Mohammad Hanif leased out the land through a tender and that the deal was renewed every three years until the DCC refused to renew the lease further in 2005.

As Rahman filed a writ petition for renewal of the deal, the court said DCC's lease was without legal authority. On May 24, 2007, it ordered the Wonderland authorities to remove all its establishments within six months.

The court also directed the DCC and the Rajuk to provide the lease holder with an alternative site before eviction.

Rajuk became a party in a public interest litigation filed by a Gulshan resident against commercialisation of a playground and public nuisance by the Wonderland authorities.

Md Nurul Huda, chairman of Rajuk, told  Monday that they carried the eviction drive in light of final verdict of Appellate Division.

Regarding the alternative site, the chairman said there was no available land at their disposal.

Rajuk tore down main entry gate and frontal boundary wall of Wonderland on Monday, allowing the Wonderland authorities a two-day time to remove expensive rides and machineries from inside the park.

No comments:

Post a Comment