Lease of govt land to tea garden protested
Residents of Jaintiapur upazila in Sylhet yesterday demanded that the government refrains from leasing out 4,000 acres of government land in the hills of the upazila's Charikata and Nijpat unions for the establishment of tea gardens.
The 4,000 acres should be allotted to the landless people who have been cultivating on the land for ages, stated the residents at a rally, organised by Nijpat union parishad members Abdus Shukur and Shamim Ahmed, in the upazila headquarters.
Handing over a memo in this regard, addressed to the prime minister, to Jaintiapur's upazila nirbahi officer, the residents declared to form a human chain on the same venue on September 19 to press home their demand.
Four companies applied to take lease of the land. The upazila and district officials forwarded the applications to the Ministry of Land recently, said sources.
On Wednesday last, the residents had staged a protest rally at Battala of Jaintiapur. Nijpat Union Parishad Chairman Abdul Malik chaired the programme where Jaintapur Upazila Parishad Vice-Chairman Muhibul Haque, Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon Sylhet unit General Secretary Abdul Karim and former lawmaker Dilder Hossain Selim also spoke.
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