Some eminent personalities of the country have expressed grave concern over the government’s decision to establish an economic zone (EZ) on 511 acres of arable land of Chandpore Tea Estate area in Habiganj. “We are deeply concerned that a government authority is trying to hurriedly implement a decision to establish an economic zone on 511 acres of agricultural land of Chandpore Tea Estate in Habiganj,” they said in a statement on Wednesday. “Based on our field visits and newspaper reports we have little doubt that the entire land transferred for the EZ is agricultural land. At least two crops are grown there every year.” “We are deeply concerned that the local administration has transferred the 511 acres of agricultural land to Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) showing those as non-agricultural land,” the statement also said. Of the total 3,951 acres of land of Chandpore Tea Estate, 951 acres are agricultural land. The ancestors of tea workers and their families, who have been cultivating this land, prepared the arable land 150 years back along with preparing land for tea cultivation. The statement further said there are many families, cultivating the land, who have no work in the tea garden. The crops they produce in this land are important for their subsistence. The eminent personalities apprehended that injustice will commence to the workers of Chandpore Tea Estate and their families, if the agricultural land is transferred without properly consulting them or without taking their economic fate into consideration. Thousands of people of tea worker communities have been organizing massive protest rallies to protect the land since December 13. “We appeal to the government to hold full-scale and open consultation with the tea workers for establishing the proposed EZ in the agricultural land that they cultivate”. Economic zones are important for the country’s economic growth, so is agriculture and other productive sectors, they opined. The signatories appealed that the government should ensure that no injustice will happen to the tea workers, who are among the most marginalized people of the country, the statement added. The signatories are — Hossain Zillur Rahman, Hameeda Hossain, Anu Muhammad, Khushi Kabir, Shahidul Alam, Jyotirmoy Barua, Rahnuma Ahmed, Tanzimuddin Khan, Shamsul Huda, Hasnat Quaiyum and Philip Gain.
