Why do industrialists suddenly want to raise poultry on Ctg's khas land? Rizwana asks
Syeda Rizwana Hasan, adviser to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, has questioned why industrialists are suddenly interested in raising chickens and ducks on the khas land recently recovered in Chattogram.
"We have cleared a piece of khas land in Chattogram, market value of which is around Tk1,156 crore. Even after freeing the land from illegal occupation, it's not easy to maintain it," she said today (23 August) at the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) titled "Decentralisation and Environmental Welfare of the Capital: Towards a Sustainable Dhaka" held at the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) Auditorium, Motijheel.
She mentioned that all major business owners and industrialists are applying, saying they want to raise chickens and ducks on this land.
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"Why would industrialists suddenly want to do poultry farming? Recovering this land is a challenge, and even after recovery, maintaining it is another challenge. Protecting it from everyone else is yet another challenge," said the adviser.
She added that the government has cleared this area from illegal occupation. Previously, there was a stadium here, a track stand.
"No one could have imagined that a woman adviser would free this land from occupation. Now, after we clear it, everyone wants to come and do poultry farming there. That cannot happen."
She said, "Change should not depend only on the government. Everyone must step forward to bring about change."
The environmental adviser also said, "We need to decentralise Dhaka, but no matter how much we do, it's impossible to reduce Dhaka's population to the level we desire."
She stated that Savar, Gazipur, and Keraniganj can be developed as planned cities.
"The government can do this instead of letting land mafias take control of certain satellite cities or townships. That is the work we actually need to continue.
"We have already created a lot of housing in Dhaka, yet people who do not have access to proper roads still live on the streets."
