Plans to build a new Secretariat complex on roughly 31 acres in Dhaka's Agargaon area are moving ahead. The design calls for 14 buildings of 12 storeys each, bringing ministries and divisions together on a single campus.

People involved in the project say 16 December has been set as the target for laying the foundation. Cramped space, ageing buildings and traffic around the present Secretariat are the main reasons given for the move.

Urban planners caution that public transport, parking and access for service seekers must be planned alongside the buildings, otherwise Agargaon could face fresh congestion. Calls are also growing for the project's cost and timetable to be published in full.

Source: The Daily Star and other published reports — rewritten in our own words.