Joint body submits report
A government-UNDP joint mission for assessment of development needs of the
Chittagong Hill Tracts submitted its report to the government on Sunday
underlining the need for some "quick-impact" funds for the region,
it is
reliably learnt.
The mission also identified the sectors that should get priority regarding
development, the sources said.
The mission found law and order in the region - except in a couple of
upazilas of the seven in the Khagrachhari district - 'not only good but even
better than that in the rest of the country' and thus congenial for
development work.
Informed sources said that the mission found the Chittagong Hill Tracts
Regional Council and the three Hill District Councils of Rangamati,
Khagrachhari and Bandarban not capable enough to do their assigned jobs.
The people running those bodies needed empowerment through training to deal
with administrative and development matters, members of the mission felt,
the sources said.
The joint mission headed by Major Gen (retd) Moinul Hossain Chowdhury,
former Adviser of the last Caretaker Government, was given a month from the
third week of May to assess the development need of the region.
Meanwhile, Moni Swapan Dewan, Deputy Minister for CHT Affairs told The
Independent that the government found the mission positive and did not
consider law and order a serious impediment to development of the region. He
said that Bangladesh's development partners had expressed their willingness
to support development activities there.
While the UNDP and the European Union expressed their eagerness to extend
technical assistance for the development of the region, a team of observers
of the Asian Development Bank was expected to visit the area soon, he said.
The Deputy Minister said that the three Hill District Councils and the CHT
Regional Council had assured him of all co-operation to strengthen
development activities.
He said that the government's priority was to promote poverty alleviation
and production-oriented activities to infuse dynamism into the rural economy
of the CHT region.
Efficient utilisation of the region's resources for development was among
the priorities, he said in response to a question.