Abdul Malek was allocated a plot inside an industrial estate of the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation (BSCIC) in Rajshahi back in the 1970s.

Since then, he has managed to lease an additional six plots totalling 18,000 square feet in area to expand his food, textile and dying units, the latter two of which deal with producing Rajshahi silk.

It was not always smooth sailing for Malek though as his business began to crumble when the comparatively pricey Rajshahi silk started to lose out to cheaper alternatives in the 1980s.

In order to survive, he handed over one of his plots to a fellow businessperson, and closed his textile and dying factories while continuing with his food industry in a small scale.

However, Malek's luck turned around when he happened to become general secretary of the BSCIC Industry Owners Association.

He allegedly started misusing his authority to illegally sub-let industrial plots, at least one of which was used to establish a light engineering workshop.

In addition, he has been using a plot as a residence with his family, which goes against regulations in this regard.

Malek is not alone though as earlier this year, authorities of the BSCIC industrial estate in Rajshahi found that at least 14 other businesspeople have been using their plots for residential purposes or renting them out illegally for the past three decades.

Upon being warned thrice, nine of those businesspeople eventually moved away but the remaining five, including Malek, have never paid any heed.

The five units that continue to flaunt rules are: Keramat Rice Mills, Raj Metal industries, Rasa Bakery and Shamim Engineering Workshop.

"They [the five industrialists] want to stay at the estate at any cost and argue they have no alternative," Zafar Wazed, deputy general manager of the Rajshahi BSCIC said.

Wazed was head of the committee that spotted the illegal activities of plot owners for the first time in the last 35 years.

He said their investigation revealed that the estate was developed in 1962 mainly focusing on the thriving silk businesses.

"Authorities insisted that businesspeople who receive these industrial plots engage in the silk businesses," he said.

Later, when the situation changed and business methods were transformed, many plot owners failed to adapt and ultimately succumbed to bankruptcy, Wazed added.

On the other hand, Malek has other views.
"The BSCIC authorities collect a yearly service charge of Tk 3,500 for each 1,000 square feet but they don't provide any service," he said.

Asked about his illegal residence at the industrial plot, Malek said he is staying there for security reasons.

"Incidents of theft are occurring almost every night due to the lack of security," he added.

However, BSCIC officials says there should be no plea for flouting the rules as most plot owners are abide by them.

Some other plot owners also reported various crises at the estate, including mismanagement, and said that industries there cannot not grow due to the lack of facilities.

For example, there is no boundary wall at the estate while most roads are damaged and the drainage system is in dire condition.

Besides, uninterrupted power supply remains a challenge while the gas supply is costly, making it difficult for industry owners to maintain a low production cost.

Industries at the Rajshahi industrial estate have long been demanding a separate power line but to no avail, and several industries have had to manage gas connections on their own initiative.

Most factories are not applying for gas connections considering the high connection costs and so, they demand the installation of a common gas pipeline to reduce this expense.

Liaqat Ali, president of the Rajshahi BSCIC Industry Owners' Association, said the transportation of raw materials is another problem due to the lack of direct railway, waterway or air cargo facilities.

"We have been raising our demands in different forums for a long time but we don't see any improvement," he added.

Rajshahi BSCIC Deputy General Manager Wazed said the authorities have started implementing some development projects to improve the roads, drainage and other facilities.

As the demand for industrial plots has increased, the authorities have initiatives to identify sick projects, providing them support and handing over vacant plots to promising entrepreneurs, BSCIC officials said.

Keramat Rice Mills was allotted two plots in the 1970s but after the introduction of auto rice mills in the late 1990s, older units like this one have stopped operations.

When its owner Keramat Ali died, his nine inheritors started living at the plots instead of doing any industrial production.

Later when the BSCIC authorities sent them notices, they stopped staying at the plots but rented them out to three other families who installed oil, chanachur and plastic factories in a small scale.

BSCIC officials said they have proposed cancelling the plot allotments to those who have been violating rules despite repeated notices.

A decision on the proposal is likely to come in a couple of weeks, they added.