It was a handkerchief, and it became a cat. Let’s clarify. The influential business group Bashundhara has been allocated land classified as beach at a coastal area in Chittagong, under the pretence of it being a wetland, by the Ministry of Land.
470 acres of coastline land from three mouzas in the Char Banshbaria union of Sitakunda, Chittagong, were given away by the Awami League administration of the time. There, Bashundhara intends to build a port terminal, an LPG plant, an oil refinery, and petrochemical goods.
The Ministry of Land changed the land categorisation to expedite its allocation. Consequently, Bashundhara paid about three times less than the land’s market worth for it. As of 2017-18, the value of 470 acres of beach land was estimated to be roughly 235 crore BDT based on the current mouza rate. It cost roughly 55 crore BDT to lease to Bashundhara as a result of the classification change. About 180 crore BDT in revenue were lost to the government as a result of this categorisation.
As per the current mouza valuation for the 2023-24 fiscal year, the price for coastal wetland is between 50,000 and 60,000 BDT per katha. Thus, the market value of the 470 acres stands at 253 crore BDT. In contrast, the mouza price for wetland ranges from 10,000 to 25,000 BDT per katha. Consequently, the government has lost around 161 crore (79 lakh BDT) in revenue due to this classification change.
How the Beach Became Wetland
On August 5, 2018, Syed Sobhan Anvir, the Managing Director of Bashundhara Group, applied to the Ministry of Land for the reclassification of coastal land. He indicated that the land in question was adjacent to property already purchased by Bashundhara. He stated that under the encouragement of the Awami League government, they had begun work on establishing petrochemical and refinery complexes at the coastal site.
In his application, he stated that the project had been approved by the then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina. He asked for a long-term lease based on the creation of jobs and the interests of the country.
In response to this application, the Ministry of Land gave Mohammad Mominur Rahman, the deputy commissioner of Chittagong at the time, instructions to conduct the required actions on January 7, 2019. The following day, reports and comments on the Nuralia, Boalia, and Char Banshbaria mouzas were obtained by Milton Roy, the then-Upazila Executive Officer, along with a surveyor and kanungo. According to the research, 255.77 acres of beach might be classified as wetland.
On January 9, the Upazila Executive Officer sent this report with recommendations to the Additional Deputy Commissioner. The Additional Deputy Commissioner issued a public notice about the land classification change, claiming that no objections had been raised.
Milton Roy, the then Upazila Executive Officer of Sitakunda, is currently working as an Executive Magistrate at the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources. When asked on what basis he provided the opinion to reclassify beach land as wetland, he outright denied any wrongdoing. However, he acknowledged that the land was allocated to Bashundhara during his tenure.
When a copy of the reclassification document bearing his signature was sent to him via WhatsApp, he stated, “Bashundhara applied for reclassification of their purchased land. No reclassification took place during my time.” When questioned further about the basis of his recommendation, he responded that he would need to verify before commenting.
Milton Roy was transferred in 2021. His successors, Shahadat Hossain and Assistant Commissioner (Land), Ashraful Alam, expressed similar views on the matter.
The then Deputy Commissioner of Chittagong, Mohammad Mominur Rahman, is now serving as an Additional Divisional Commissioner in Dhaka. Attempts to contact him for comments on the land classification were unsuccessful.
MM Arif Pasha, Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Land’s Khas land division, stated, “I cannot comment on this matter.” He advised contacting the public relations officer or the secretary for further information. When contacted, the public relations officer, Ahsanul Karim, said he had no knowledge of the issue.
Attempts to reach the land secretary were also unsuccessful.
In conclusion, the reclassification took place in October 2022 following a number of bureaucratic procedures, and the allocation was completed in December. The site is officially now owned by Bashundhara, but the powerful business organisation hasn’t moved in yet.
Source: Bangla Outlook
