In less than a year after renovating the stadiums for the World Cup Cricket 2011, the Bangladesh Cricket Board has received dozens of complaints from different venue managers.
Many important areas at the five venues now need to be repaired or reconstructed as the construction firms concerned failed to maintain certain standards.
The government spent Tk 231.54 crore on renovation of five venues, but none of them saw the works completed as specified in the tender documents.
A total of 17 defects have been detected at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium, the home of BCB, which hosted six World Cup matches including two quarter-finals.
The condition of Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong and Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah, the other two venues used for World Cup and warm-up matches, are also no different.
The BCB received at least 13 complaints about Fatullah and 15 complaints about Chittagong from the respective venue managers.
The BCB officials found that the false ceilings in at least three areas of the SBNS – the BCB lounge, corporate boxes and media box – were yet to be repaired while the expansion joint in the corporate box also needs to be mended.
The drainage channel in some areas has also remained incomplete while some other areas are yet to be painted. The road and footpath around the stadium also had several defects.
There is no fibre glass on the roof of turnstile gates while signage in some areas is also missing. The air conditioner placed in the ICC box has already been damaged.
The BCB has also found that there is no security fencing in the floodlight poles while one AVR does not work, one wheel of a lift is already broken making it dangerous for the users. A circuit breaker is out of order and needs to be replaced.
According to Fazle Bari Khan Rubel, the venue manager at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong, water pours in through the roof of the pavilion building stairs, from the expansion joint of the two dressing rooms, hospitality box and the president box, lift, media centre and television commentary boxes.
There are no pipes to drain out water from the pavilion building, media centre and the second and third floors of the pavilion building get waterlogged even after light rain.
Rubel informed the BCB that the false ceiling of different rooms in the pavilion building and media centre are already coming out.
The Thai aluminium fittings and the Thai locks are also not working in some areas, he said in a letter to the project director of the stadium last month.
The venue manger of the country’s second biggest international venue also said there is no drainage system in the parking area and it goes under water when there is rain.
The plaster is yet to be completed in the second floor of the gallery and there is no steel shutter to protect the turnstile gates.
At the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium, water pours in through the expansion joint of the pavilion building, the air conditioners of the dressing room and the dining room do not function properly, water remains stagnant behind the pavilion building and there is no rain pipe to drain out water from the roof of the media and the pavilion building.
The construction works for the commentary box, media box, store room and curator’s room are yet to be completed, said Habibullah Morshed, the manager of the stadium, in a letter to the director of planning and development of the National Sports Council last month.
He informed the toilet fittings in the ground floor of the pavilion building and the dressing room are out of order. The locks of the fast food court are out of order while the false ceilings of the pavilion building and media centre are falling down.
The security lights do not work while there are several cracks in the water pipeline of the ground. Cracks are also developing in the glasses of the pavilion and the media centre while rain water pours in the president box.
There is no official record at the BCB about the defects of the Bangabandhu National Stadium and Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna at the moment.
The BCB officials were shocked and surprised to see so many defects, though none of them were ready make any comment.
When contacted, Abdur Rahman, planning and development director of the NSC, admitted to have received the complaints and said they would be repaired before the series against West Indies in October.
‘They [construction companies] will complete the works before the home series against the West Indies,’ Rahman told New Age.
‘They will not get the 10 per cent earnest money, which is supposed to remain with us for a year, if we are not satisfied with their work,’ said Rahman.
‘We knew this could happen, so we did not refund the earnest money. They will get it back only if they rectify the defects,’ he said.
-With New Age input
