People whose farmlands were appropriated and developed by government authorities, despite the prime minister's directive to exempt farmlands from development work, have expressed disappointment with the government’s development policy and strategy.
The affected people whose lands have been acquired by the government for various development projects, including the Ashuganj power plant, Matarbari coal power plant and the Rampal power plant, shared their bitter experiences at a discussion program yesterday.
The discussion, “Development Strategy and the Crisis of Life and Nature,” was organized by the ‘Life and Nature Safeguard Platform’ with the support of Action Aid, at The Daily Star Centre in Dhaka.
They criticized the government’s development policy and strategy which has rendered them homeless and taken away their agricultural lands.
What the affected people say
Farid Uddin Talukder, a 70-year-old man from Khepupara in Patuakhali where the Ashuganj power plant is being constructed, said: “Although the prime minister said the government will not initiate any development projects on agricultural land, officials have chosen croplands for the power plant.”
“Our land is fertile and the best in the country where we get 70-80 maunds of rice from the land. We cultivate three crops in a year,” said Farid, blaming bureaucrats for not adhering to the prime minister’s directives.
He also said the prime minister promised them compensation three times more than current land prices, but they got only one and a half times the current value and had to give 10% in bribes.
Munni Shaha (45) of Moheskhali, where the Matarbari coal power plant is being constructed, said: “Outsiders are working on the development project while many locals remained unemployed, though the government had promised to employ locals for the project.”
Shahrunnesa (55) from Bagerhat, whose land was acquired for an airport, said: “The government took my homestead, but I will not be able to buy the same homestead with the minimal compensation I was given. Not only that: when I went to the DC office to collect the outstanding money promised me, they used abusive language.”
Mustafa Mehedi Tuhin (45), a journalist from Mongla, where the Rampal coal power plant construction is in full swing, said: “No rehabilitation has been arranged for the people affected. I have even found a case where four affected brothers were displaced and dispersed to different districts.”
Expert Opinion
Shamsul Huda, executive director of the Association for Land Reform and Development, said the time has come to speak out against development projects which destroy nature and the environment, and uproot people from their homes.
“At least 50 times, the premier has said the government will not initiate any development projects on agricultural land, but bureaucrats do not following her directions. They do not have any accountability now,” he added.
Dr Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International, Bangladesh, said: “This type of development is fully against the public interest. We never dreamed of such a Bangladesh where people have to sacrifice their lives for supposed development. Some may be proud of this development and an 8% GDP growth, but the story behind it is pathetic.”
“Development that harms people, leaves people behind, should be protested. It is a matter of sorrow that we live in a society where nothing can be done without the PM’s intervention… even to protect a single person’s rights,” he said.
ActionAid country director Farah Kabir said Bangladesh has been putting emphasis on three issues: Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs, development, and achieving middle income status. “If people become landless then how will SDGs be achieved?”
Barister Jyotirmoy Barua, coordinator of Life and Nature Safeguard Platform, presided over the meeting where Chittagong University professor, Dr Manzoorul Kibria, discussed the Payra port, and Zakir Hossain Khan of TIB spoke about the Matarbari power plant.
In their presentations, they described how the development projects deprived locals, nature, and biodiversity.
