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JS body for speedy trial of land grabbers

10 developers named as encroachers, more to follow

STAFF CORRESPONDENT
A parliamentary body yesterday recommended to the government for taking tougher steps including speedy trial of land grabbers and using the Special Powers Act to recover public land from encroachers across the country.
The parliamentary standing committee on the land ministry at its meeting yesterday also disclosed the names of 10 real estate developers that were found to have occupied public lands. The companies are -- Amin Mohammad Foundation, Jamuna Builders, Metro Makers and Developers Ltd.,
Eastern Housing, Samatat Housing, Sharif Housing, EastWest Property Developers Ltd., Chand Mia Housing, Ferkon Real Estate and Mohammadia Housing Society.
The developers will be asked to vacate the grabbed lands. "If they don't respond, the ministry will take stern actions, after conducting a survey to pinpoint the grabbed lands and illegal establishments," Mahbubur Rahman, chairman of the committee, told newspersons at a press briefing at his office after the meeting.
He said the number of such
developers was expected to increase, as the process of identifying the land grabbers was on.
The deputy collector of Dhaka, in his report at the meeting, said encroachers occupied over 10,000 acres of land in the district.
The meeting asked the deputy collectors (DCs) of 61 districts, excepting the three in the hill region, to submit reports furnishing lists specifying state land, vested property and abandoned property in their respective districts within the next two months.
The committee also formed a sub-committee headed by former state minister for land Kabir Hossain to make a draft bill for exchanging land between Bangladesh and India. The subcommittee is to submit its draft in 30 days.
Commenting on the meeting's outcome, Mahbubur Rahman said, "The Ministry of Land agreed with all the recommendations of the parliamentary committee. The minister and the secretary of the ministry supported the decisions."
Earlier, on December 28, Mahbubur Rahman at a press briefing at his office at the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) Bhaban gave details of a report, based on information gathered by the JS body from the land ministry and authorities concerned. He said the government land constituted about 10 lakh acres of state land, six lakh acres of vested property and two lakh acres of abandoned property.
Of that, eight lakh acres of land worth Tk 70,000 - 80,000 crore are occupied by grabbers when the government controlled only four lakh acres. The rest six lakh acres of land still remain unused and ungoverned, he said.
Considering the dismal situation, the parliamentary body yesterday recommended to the government for taking up an initiative to amend the Speedy Trial Act in order to pave the way for trying the land grabbers in the speedy trial courts. "We asked the ministry to take steps to amend the Speedy Trial Act in the coming session of the Jatiya Sangsad on January 18," the committee chairman said.
The deputy collectors and magistrates were also asked to evict illegal occupants and establishments from the state lands and vested and abandoned property. For this, the committee emphasised using the Special Powers Act and criminal legal procedure instead of civil legal procedure against the land grabbers.
The parliamentary body also recommended to the government to take measures for returning the lands under different ministries and departments to the land ministry after fulfilling the formers' demands. The meeting maintained that other ministries or departments were not entitled to lease out public lands.