Secretariat fire: Search for alternative offices underway

The authorities concerned with the ministries and departments are searching for alternative offices inside or outside the Secretariat to keep their regular activities carried out. The officials concerned are also optimistic about recovering the burnt documents as they are digitally preserved.

A fire broke out at building no. 7 of the Secretariat, the heart of the administration, on Wednesday (December 25) night. The fire was completely brought under control after 10 hours of continuous efforts by 19 units of firefighters.

The documents of the Road Transport and Highways Division of the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, two divisions of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, the Posts and Telecommunications Division of the Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Labor and Employment were burnt to ashes in the fire. All computers and furniture were also damaged.

The fire has partially destroyed the fifth floor of the nine-story building, and all the rooms and documents of five ministries and their three departments from the sixth to ninth floors have been burned down, making it a big challenge to continue operations. For this reason, the authorities of the ministries concerned are looking for alternative offices.

Several officials from the four affected ministries told Views Bangladesh that while the damage to the fifth floor of the building was somewhat less, the condition of the four floors from the sixth to the ninth is terrible. Since the offices of the same ministry are scattered on different floors and in different places, the extent of damage to all is not the same. However, there is no possibility of using the damaged floors of the building for a few months.

Of the offices, the local government department has suffered the most damage. Joint Secretary of this department Dr. Md. Monirul Islam said: "All our rooms were burned down on the sixth, seventh, and eighth floors. So we are the ones in the worst situation. We have to open the office now to run our operations smoothly. I don't know if this will be possible in the next three months in this building."

Work is underway to determine whether the departments' activities can be carried out in the Dhaka South City Corporation, i.e., Nagar Bhaban, or in a suitable place that can be easily relocated. The recommendations will be given to the adviser of the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives very soon. He also said that the new temporary office will be moved subject to the consent of the chief adviser.

Several officials have initially learned that at least four rooms, including the office of the secretary of the Ministry of Labor and Employment, have been burned to ashes. However, Additional Secretary (Administration) Md. Jahangir Hossain did not agree to comment before being completely sure.

Sources say that these offices may be located at the main office of the Department of Labor on Shaheed Syed Nazrul Islam Sarani in Bijoynagar for the time being.

An official of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, on condition of anonymity, said that an evaluation committee headed by Additional Secretary Muhammad Hiruzzaman has been formed, which will start working from Saturday (December 28).

Until the damaged office rooms are repaired, a temporary office may be set up at the National Sports Council or a comparable office under the ministry.

The officials and employees of the ministry are optimistic that the damage to the Posts and Telecommunications Department has been relatively minor. However, they feared that the storeroom on the seventh floor would be completely burned down.

They hope that since their office is on the fifth floor, they will find all the office rooms except for one or two in somewhat better condition.

Joint Secretary (Administration) of the ministry Md. Sajedur Rahman said that if any room is damaged, it can be transferred to the GPO for the time being.

Officials to retrive necessary documents from govt data storage

Officials of various ministries told Views Bangladesh that the work may come to a standstill due to the burning of the documents. However, since important documents have been digitized in advance, they can be restored and work can resume in a short time.

Joint Secretary of the Local Government Department Dr. Md. Monirul Islam said that this is one of the most important ministries in running the country. All documents, especially important documents, have already been stored in a digital system given their importance.

“Those who think that documents have been lost are living in a fool’s paradise. They can be retrieved from the database and used,” he said.

Officials of the Ministry of Labor also said that initially, they found that the rooms from which e-documents are exchanged and managed are still good or the amount of damage is very small. Maybe the paper documents have been lost, which will slow down the work a little bit. But there is no danger of the ministry being paralyzed.

Joint Secretary (Administration) of the Telecommunication Department Md. Sajedur Rahman said: “We have digitized documents. Projects or decisions are implemented through different departments. So there are different copies of them. So, there is no fear of losing documents. Only our work will increase a little and some time will be wasted to speed up the work.”