KEPZ 'failed to use land'

Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday said the government would take back part of the land it had given to YoungOne Corporation for industrial development.

The Korea-based company was allocated about 2,500 acres 17 years ago to set up Korean Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) but it couldn't use even 500 acres, the minister said. “This is wasteful.”

These remarks came as Muhith was talking to journalists at his secretariat office and his attention was drawn to The Daily Star reports on government plan to take back the land.

Muhith said the KEPZ authorities would have to prove that 500 acres of land had been used and then surrender the rest.

“You [KEPZ authorities] failed to use it. You have done nothing,” he said.

Asked about a possibility that the company might go to an international tribunal over the issue, the minister said, “No, no ... they cannot do it. Of course, we can take back the land.”

Rejecting Muhith's statement, KEPZ authorities said taking back the land would not be easy. The government has to follow legal procedures.

“We have already developed 850 acres of land where industries have been set up, while development of another 200 acres is underway. We have also constructed 22 buildings and 21 kilometres road inside the zone,” said KEPZ Managing Director Mohammad Hasan Nasir, when asked about the finance minister's statement.

YoungOne also built seven shoe and garment factories creating jobs for 6,000 locals. Four more factories would start operations by December, he mentioned.

Nasir said the government had acquired the land and handed over it to the YoungOne in 1999. But the company did not get cooperation the government pledged.

“Unused land around KEPZ and in other areas of Chittagong can be developed and given to other investors. But KEPZ land has been targeted as it is now very lucrative after development,” he said.

The company will take measure once the government starts the procedure to take back land, added the managing director. Earlier, he said the KEPZ authorities would go to court and, if necessary, to an international tribunal for justice.

The row over the KEPZ land surfaces at a time when the government is inviting investors from Japan, China and India assuring them of special economic zones. Which land will be allocated to them is now under discussion, according to Muhith.

Asked whether the government has decided to allocate land to India, Muhith did not give a direct reply but said, “We invited India to come up with a bigger investment and they showed interest.”

During the Bangladesh-India Joint Consultative Commission meeting that ended in New Delhi on Saturday, Dhaka said it was ready to provide a location for a special economic zone where Indian businessmen can invest.

Indian, which has been requesting Bangladesh to permit a special economic zone for Indian investors, welcomed the Bangladesh offer and sought necessary cooperation for interested Indian entrepreneurs.