Forest, prison depts at loggerheads over open jail in Cox’s Bazar
Complications have arisen over the proposed construction of an open jail on 160 acres of forest land at Ukhia of Cox's Bazar as the Forest Department has objected to the proposal.
The land ministry registered a lease deed in 2019, allocating 160 acres of land to the Prison Department for the construction of an open jail such as in the developed world.
On 27 May this year, Ukhia Upazila Assistant Commissioner (Land) and the prison authorities set up boundary poles for the construction. On 25 June, the Forest Department carried out an operation to uproot the poles.
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Later on 24 July, the Ministry of Home Affairs sent a letter to the Forest Department to take action against the assistant forest conservator of Cox's Bazar South Forest Division.
Anisur Rahman, assistant forest conservator, Cox's Bazar South Forest Division, said, "Forest workers told me about seeing some poles on a routine patrol. We were not aware of the lease to the Prison Department and we uprooted the poles."
"We thought it was an encroachment on our forest land by some third party in the dark of night, trying to occupy it illegally," he added.
Later on 30 August, the Forest Department sent a letter to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, to take necessary measures to cancel the lease of the forest land, informed Md Sarwar Alam, divisional forest officer, Cox's Bazar South Forest Division.
The allocated land is recorded as forest land in the gazette. There are hills, natural forests and wildlife habitats on the land, and hence the land falls under the jurisdiction of the Forest Department, the department said.
According to Forest Department sources, hybrid and natural trees of various species, including Bailam, Gorjan, Java Plum, Telsur, Chapalish, Akashmani, Gamari, Achhargol, Fig, Banyan, and more, occupy the land and they will be cut down if any establishment has to be built in that place. Apart from this, the habitats of various species of wild animals and birds, including pythons, deer, monkeys, foxes, snakes, monkeys, and pigs, will be destroyed.
Environmentalists have also been opposing the implementation of development projects in forest lands.
Rashedul Majid, chief executive of the environmental voluntary organisation Environment People, said, "Thousands of acres of forest in Ukhia-Teknaf have already been destroyed by Rohingya encroachments. On top of that, if forest lands are being allocated for building establishments, it will cause further and indiscriminate deforestation, encroachment of forest land, and damage to the habitat of elephants and wild animals. Consequently, the environment of the area will be under serious threat."
Cox's Bazar District Jail Superintendent Md Shah Alam Khan said, "160 acres of land in Ukhia have been registered in the name of the Prison Department and we have been paying for the lease. The poles were rooted after determining the boundaries of the land but a Forest Department official uprooted all the poles. The department is now raising objections claiming it is forest land, which is not acceptable."
