The Appellate Division on Monday extended the deadline until October 5 to demolish the illegally-built building of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association located on Hatirjheel lake in the capital.The vacation judge-in-chamber, Hasan Foez Siddique, also fixed October 5 for hearing of a petition filed by the BGMEA seeking one more year extension to relocate their headquarters to Uttara in the city.BGMEA prayed for the extension as their six-month deadline set by the Appellate Division from March 2017 to demolish the multi-storey building expired today.BGMEA president Md Siddiqur Rahman at a news conference on Saturday told reporters that they had filed a petition seeking more time to relocate the headquarters as the construction of the new office will take one year.He said that the government had allocated 5.5 bighas of land to the BGMEA and the consultant had been appointed to construct the building.On April 3, 2011, the High Court Division had ordered the government to demolish the building within 90 days and termed it as ‘a cancerous growth’ eclipsing the capital’s landmark lake Hatirjheel.On June 2, 2016, the apex court rejected BGMEA’s appeal against the HC order.Later, the apex court rejected BGMEA’s review petition and gave six-month timeframe till September 11 this year to relocate its headquarters.
