Land acquisition delay hampers construction

Complications with the land acquisition are delaying the construction works of the Sirajganj Economic Zone, the largest private industrial park in the country’s northern region.

As the authorities concerned are yet to pay dues of the 1,203 families of landowners, from whom the government acquired the land, as additional compensation for their homesteads, cropland, and orchards amounting Tk 47 crore, they are obstructing the economic zone authorities to begin construction works. The families said they already received the compensation amount for the land.

Prime minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Sirajganj Economic Zone, the largest private industrial park in the country’s northern region, on April 3, 2019. This 1,042-acre zone is to be established on the west bank of the Jamuna river of the district’s Sadar and Belkuchi. It would have a capacity to house 400 factories of 11 big and small companies. The zone is expected to create employment opportunities for five lakh people and bring in over $2 billion in investments, according to Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA).

Locals said they would not relocate until they are fully paid for their land. They also alleged that they are contacting different government offices to get their payments, but various unscrupulous syndicates of local influential people are trying to embezzle the money defrauding the locals.

They alleged that the authorities concerned have turned a blind eye and taken no measures to stop these syndicates.

Altaf Hossain, a landowner, told The Business Post, “These syndicates are offering us as little as Tk 20,000 each to relocate us from our lands, but we owe much more than that from the government.”

“Many unscrupulous groups have been formed in the locality, but the construction work has not started yet as the real owners have not been paid yet,” he added.

Sonia Sabur Akand, a local union parishad chairman, told The Business Post that the government had disbursed the money to the district administration of Sirajganj but they have not initiated the disbursal yet for some bureaucratic complexities. “We hope these problems mitigate soon enough as the economic zone is very important for the development of the region,” she added.

Sheikh Monowar Hossain, director of SEZ, said, “After getting the allotment from the BEZA we transferred it to the Sirajganj District Administration Office. However, we have no idea why the money is not disbursed yet.”

Abdul Latif Biswas, chairman of Sirajganj Zilla Parishad and a former minister, said the concerns of the landowners are valid as they are already facing various economic difficulties leaving their ancestral homes. “We hope the authorities concerned would have a discussion with all the parties involved and mitigate this crisis soon,” he said.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Sirajganj Md Mobarak Hossain said they had not received any approval from the government to disburse the money they received from the BEZA authority. That is why they are in the process of returning the allotted money to the Ministry of Land authorities.

Once completed, the Sirajganj Economic Zone will be the country’s largest private economic zone. The zone will be directly connected to the northern part of the country through road, river, rail, and air links. It will also be connected with India, Nepal, and Bhutan through Burimari, Hili, and Banglabandha land ports.

In the first year after the zone’s opening, around 10,000 jobs will be created in textile, knitwear, agro-based food and beverage, pharmaceuticals, automobile, leather, steel, electronics, furniture, power plants and other export-oriented industries. The initiation of the project is crucial for the economic development of the region, and therefore, the crisis related to land acquisition should be mitigated as soon as possible, locals said, pressing their concerns over the matter.