"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.