http://www.thedailystar.net/2004/12/17/d41217011414.htm
The Daily Star, Vol. 5 Num 202
Fri. December 17, 2004
Our Correspondent, Rangamati
The parliamentary team formed to review the post-peace accord situation
in Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) districts arrives here in Khagrachhari
today on a three-day visit to the hill districts, official sources said.
"The team would invite the local residents' opinions as to what should
the government do for the betterment of the people living in the hill
districts," said a Khagrachhari official seeking anonymity yesterday.
The nine-member team of the parliamentary committee on Chittagong Hill
Tracts Affairs headed by Mosharaf Hossain MP will hold a number of
meetings with leaders of the indigenous communities and local
politicians at each of the hill district headquarters.
They would seek to know both the locals' and the officials' views on law
and order, said the official.
Besides, the team would inspect some ongoing developmental schemes being
implemented by the government and non-government sectors, said sources
in Khagra-chhari.
After visiting Khagrachhari, the team would go to Rangamati the
following day.
In the meetings with the visiting team, the Parbattya Chattagram Jono
Sanghaty Samity (PCJSS) leaders would stress the importance of proper
implementation of the 1997 peace accord. They would ask the team for
election to the CHT Regional Council and three Hill District Councils
(HDCs) to make the local governing bodies effective, sources close to
PCJSS said.
"The PCJSS attaches a fair amount of weight to this
long-awaited visit and will try to draw attention to the five-point
demand it made while observing the 7th anniversary of the peace accord
on December 2," added the source.
Appointment of an indigenous person as a full minister to the CHT
affairs ministry, removal of ruling BNP MP Wadood Bhuiyan from the CHT
Development Board, making the CHT Land Commission start working,
pull-out of army, and other forces from CHT districts are among the
demands.
The team on December 19 would leave Rangamati for Bandarban and conclude
the three-day CHT visit there, the source added.