The New Nation - Internet Edition

UNB, Dhaka

The historic Ganobhaban where Prime Minister-in-waiting Sheikh Hasina will be living in after taking oath was found in a dilapidated condition for virtual dereliction since she had last left.

"It is not fit for living. Condition is very bad," Manjila Farooq, protocol officer to Sheikh Hasina, told UNB after visiting the Ganobhaban, as preparation is afoot for transfer of power by the caretaker government to her next cabinet in a couple of days.

Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman used this state house as his office. After becoming Prime Minister, Hasina also had lived in this historic house during her 1996-2001 tenure.

Manjila said while visiting the Ganobhaban she witnessed living rooms, beds, cots, carpets and curtains in dirt and ramshackle condition. Some cots which were there when Hasina left the place are missing.

After Hasina, the Ganobhaban was renamed 'Pradhan Mantri Bhaban' and immediate-past Prime Minister Khaleda Zia used it as one of her offices.

Manjila said, "It seems things there had not been preserved properly for last seven years."

When contacted, Housing and Works Adviser Maj Gen (retd) Ghulam Quader told UNB in the evening that "whatever required will be in place before the Prime Minister steps in Ganobhaban". Renovation works already started, he said.