e_Paper, Tuesday, December 13, 2016

32
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2016
DT
MOST FEMALE SME OWNERS
HARDLY GET LOANS PAGE 12
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ARSENAL GET BAYERN AGAIN,
BARCA RETURN TO PARIS PAGE 24
TEAM BEHIND THE
‘DETECTIVE THE GAME’ PAGE 30
ANOTHER SLUM FIRE IN MOHAKHALI
Looting amid panicked
evacuation alleged
A dejected elderly woman sitting on her charred belongings after a fire burnt the Sattola slum in Mohakhali early yesterday
• Kamrul Hasan and
Arifur Rahman Rabbi
There have been numerous allegations
of rampant looting of homes during the
Sattola fire amid frantic rush for safety.
The fire broke out in the early hours
of yesterday at Adarshanagar area of
the slum and raged on for two hours
burning down 111 homes before it
could be doused, said an official of Brac
urban development project.
Around 1:10am an announcement
was made from the Chowdhurypara
Mosque of the slum. The Fire Service
rushed to the spot around 1:30am.
It took seventeen fire service units
two hours to bring the fire under control
around 2am, said Fire Service Control
Room Official Mahmudul Hoque.
Victims of the fire claim that several
outsiders broke into their homes and
looted their valuables.
Salma, the owner of a computer
shop in the slum, said during the frantic
rush to get out of the slum someone
broke into her shop and stole the only
computer she owned.
Another resident, Shilpi Akhter said
she locked the doors of her home before
she ran for shelter came back to find the
door unlocked and her room ransacked.
RAJIB DHAR
Many other residents claimed their
cellphones were pick pocketed during
the fire.
Jasim Uddin said the fire broke out
inside the Brac school in the slum. Salma
said she heard a big explosion from
near the Brac school and saw a blue fire
there.
“Very soon the fire engulfed the
whole area.”
Jasim alleged that drug addicts
regularly broke into the school to use
drugs there. However, Brac school programme
officials said they were unaware
of that fact.
Brac school official Rokonuzzaman
said the school was locked after hours
and the local parents committee also
provided security for the building.
Local Councilor Md Nasir also took
this view.
But a resident asking not to be
named claimed that sometimes powerful
factions set fire to the slum in a
bid to grab the land.
Several residents alleged that a racket
controlled by a criminal godfather
named Akhter Mia, who is currently in
jail, was involved with the fire.
“Sometimes these fires are set to
grab property in the slum. The powerful
shanty owners take over the shanties
owned by others and the previous
owners lose everything and become
tenants at the slum or leave,” one resident
said.
This is the second slum fire this
month in Dhaka. Parts of the nearby
Korail slum burned down on December
4, gutting 500 houses. The victims
there have also alleged that it was an
arson intended to scare them out of
the slum.
Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor
Annisul Huq visited the spot around
12:30 am yesterday and assured of assistance
and rehabilitation for the victims.
Besides, Brac supplied some utensils
to the victims yesterday afternoon
and they will sit with Mayor Annisul
around 11am today to discuss a
rehabilitation process, said Hasina
Mushrofa.
They were arranging cloth tents
for the victims so that they would not
be living under the sky during night,
said Brac School programme Manager
Tamzidul Islam.
Banani police station Inspector (Investigation)
Waheduzzaman told the
Dhaka Tribune that they had deployed
police there and investigating into the
matter. •
High Court: VAT on
English medium
tuition fees illegal
• Ashif Islam Shaon
The High Court has declared
the 7.5% VAT on tuition
fees at English medium
schools illegal.
The court yesterday said
the imposition of VAT was
discriminatory and contradictory
to the constitution,
and thus it cannot be extracted
from students from
January 2017.
The govt
imposed a 4.5%
VAT on fees
and services in
English medium
schools in 2010.
In 2014, it was
raised to 7.5%.
There is no
VAT for Bangla
medium schools
The High Court bench of
Justice Zubayer Rahman
Chowdhury and Justice
Mozibur Rahman Miah
gave the verdict on a writ
petition that challenged the
government decision to impose
VAT on tuition fees at
English medium schools.
On September 17, 2015,
the High Court stayed the
collection of VAT on tuition
fees for six months after
two guardians filed the writ
petition.
At that time the court
also issued a ruling, asking
the authorities concerned
to explain why the VAT imposition
should not be declared
illegal.
The National Board of
Revenue chairman, secretaries
to the Education
Ministry and the Internal
Resources Division of the
Finance Ministry were
made respondents to the
ruling.
Yesterday, the court declared
the VAT imposition
illegal after concluding
the final hearing on the
issue.
The writ petition argued
that it was the government’s
duty to ensure education
and equal opportunity
for all according to the
constitution. Hence, imposing
VAT on tuition and
other fees violate it.
The government imposed
a 4.5% VAT on fees
and services in English medium
schools in 2010. In
2014, it was raised to 7.5%.
There is no VAT for Bangla
medium schools.
The demand for withdrawal
of the VAT on English
medium schools grew
strong after the government
decided to remove VAT on
tuition fees at private universities,
medical colleges
and engineering colleges. •
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