Almost 75 percent of the monument's work has been completed. The project is awaiting completion as a 100-foot high glass tower is yet to be constructed, said sources in the ministry.

"The work of the project is in progress and we are expecting to finish it within June 2006," said Prof Rezaul Karim, state minister for Liberation War Affairs.

"We invited tender for the fourth time for the tower and will wait for the response, after that we will think what can be done regarding the tower. We cannot say anything about the tower right now," he added.

The Ministry of Public Works has already handed over the project to the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs for its completion.

The memorial includes some murals depicting the history of the Liberation War and the struggle for freedom from 1948 to 1971. The murals were built at a cost of Tk 1.75 crore, sprawling over an area of 67 acres.

It also includes an underground theatre, an underground museum, a 157-seat audiovisual auditorium, a display gallery and a decorative fountain.

Suhrawardy Udyan, formerly known as Race Course maidan, has been selected for constructing the memorial as the Pakistan occupation army surrendered on this ground on December 16, 1971 after the nine-month bloody war.

The construction of Swadhinata Stambha began in July 1998, when Awami League was in power, with an estimated cost of Tk 81.27 crore. In 2001, with the addition of the glass tower the total project cost was raised to Tk 171 crore and it was scheduled to be completed in 2002.

The BNP-led four-party government stopped the construction after taking office in 2001 for alleged irregularities. Then the work remained suspended for three years. After some revisions, the present government however revived the project at the end of 2004 curtailing the cost to Tk 76 crore.

About the irregularities, ministry sources said any project with a budget of over Tk 25 crore must have the approval of the government's purchase committee which the project had lacked during its initiation in 1998. But a ministry official seeking anonymity said it was a 'political decision' to halt the project.