Saturday, June 27, 2009

Barisal divisional museum project shelved for fund crunch

The Barisal divisional museum project has been shelved for about two years due to fund constraint.
Sources in archaeology department said the authorities concerned had undertaken a Tk 2.43 crore project to renovate the century-old Barisal Colletorate Building, which was turned into a museum.
Former state minister for cultural affairs Selima Rahman inaugurated the project on April 8, 2005.
Central Engineers and Construction Company Ltd got the work order. Renovation work began in July 2005 and it was scheduled to be completed in June 2007.
The sources said as the deadline for the completion of the project expired in June 2007, unused fund amounting to about Tk 43 lakh was sent back to the cultural affairs ministry and the construction work came to a halt.
Barisal Collectorate Building was declared abandoned after the new district administration complex was built on the compound of the deputy commissioner’s office in 1980s.
The government on April 1, 2004 issued a gazette notification declaring the Barisal Collectorate Building as national heritage and asked the district administration and public works department to hand over the building to the department of archaeology.
Shihab Uddin, project officer of Barisal Divisional Museum Project, said the construction work of display galleries and boundary walls under the project have been completed.
He said they made a list of antiques to put them on display. The authorities concerned have yet to approve an organogram of 38 staff including deputy director and assistant deputy director, he added.

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