Govt orders probe into cost of modern mosque

Religious Affairs Minister Kazi Shah Mofazzal Hossain Kaikobad on Monday announced that the government would immediately order an investigation into the construction costs of every Model Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre built under the nationwide project during the ousted Awami league government’s tenure, following allegations of inflated expenditures and poor construction quality.

While responding a written question in the Parliament during the question-and-answer session, the Religious Affairs Minister made the announcement. In absence of Kaikobad, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed made the reply on behalf of the Religious Affairs Minister.

The minister stated that the Religious Affairs Ministry has instructed "on Monday" to examine the total project cost, number of model mosques constructed, and expenditure incurred for each individual mosque.

The announcement came in response to a supplementary question from lawmaker Zainal Abedin Farroque, who alleged that the estimated construction cost of some model mosques had risen from Tk 1.3 billion to Tk 2.1 billion and claimed that several completed mosques were already suffering from serious structural defects.

Farroque said no new mosques were needed before investigating why project costs had increased and why many facilities had become unusable. He cited the model mosque in Senbagh, saying water leaks prevented worshippers from using it.