Int’l CHT commission concerned over hotel construction in Nilgiri

The International CHT Commission has expressed grave concern that the plan to construct a five-star hotel in Nilgiri of Bandarban will displace Mro villagers from three villages around the project site, and threaten to displace villagers from five other villages.

The watchdog body presented their concerns in a statement circulated to the media yesterday.

The statement pointed out that the Marriott Hotel and Amusement Park is being on the Chimbuk-Thanchi route, 47km southeast of Bandarban district town.

The Commission said that the Bandarban Hill District Council, which reportedly transferred the title of the land, cannot in fact do so.

"This has no legal basis because the Council does not have the legal title to the concerned land in the first case, and can provide consent only if there is a valid title in the first case," the statement said.

The Commission said that Mro villagers residing in Kaprupara, Dolapara, Erapara and Chimbuk Pahar also placed a petition before Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, calling for a halt to the construction.

"The proposed hotel project should be immediately abandoned and a more appropriate location acceptable to the local community be identified for tourist project in consultation with local stakeholders as well as the CHT Regional Council and the Bandarban Hill District Council," recommended the statement.

"Tourism-related construction projects should not be undertaken without the consultation with, and the free, prior and informed consent of, the concerned communities," it said.

The statement was signed by Sultana Kamal, Elsa Stamatopoulou and Myrna Cunningham Kain, all co-chairs of the Commission.