The journalists who cover the Secretariat beat were allowed to enter the Secretariat premises on Monday after the complex was made off limits to them following Thursday's massive fire.
Entering the Secretariat on Monday, they found a few visitors and cars inside as employees of many ministries and divisions were on leave or working from temporary offices.
And officers who attended office had left their cars outside the Secretariat.
Journalists and government officials with temporary passes were barred from entering the premises on Sunday, following a government decision to cancel all temporary passes and restrict access using media persons' accreditation cards until further notice.
Various journalists' associations harshly criticised the move. Later in the day, leaders of Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum (BSRF) held a meeting with the Home Adviser after which the home ministry said members of BSRF and other journalists who cover the Secretariat beat will be allowed to enter using temporary passes.
Accordingly, journalists gathered at Gate No. 2 of the Secretariat since the morning. Then a list was sent to the home ministry.
The ministry initially cleared the list for entry, but it was stopped again for investigation as the reason. Later, everyone on the list was allowed to enter the Secretariat at around 2 pm.
Upon entering, journalists found that no activities were taking place in any office of Building No. 7, which was damaged in the fire. All the gates of Building No. 7 , which was damaged in the fire, were closed for investigation.
The 700-foot-high building has four entry gates. In addition, there are two gates connected to other buildings, on the second and fourth floors. They were also found closed.
The 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th floors of Building-7 were extensively damaged in the fire. These floors housed the offices of the Roads and Highways Division, Local Government and Rural Development Ministry, Posts and Telecommunications Division, Ministry of Youth and Sports, and Ministry of Labour and Finance Division and the Financial Institutions Division.
In addition, from the ground floor to the fifth floor, there were offices of some sections of the Ministry of Public Administration, Financial Institutions Division and some offices of the Internal Resources Division. Although these offices were not particularly damaged, no work was being done in these offices for the sake of security and investigation.
Most of the employees have been given leave and those who came to the Secretariat are conducting activities from other departments. Meanwhile, the committee formed to investigate into the fire incident was scheduled to submit its initial report to the government on Monday.
