EDITORIAL : THE DAILY STAR, BANGLADESH

               

 

Risks from illegal billboards

Rajuk failure is unpardonable

ILLEGAL hoardings and billboards atop buildings and on roads in the capital remain a clear danger to citizens. The danger rises now that the season of storms is upon us. The first manifestation of it came last Wednesday when a huge billboard collapsed at Mirpur Road during a storm. While storms are a regular climatic happening in Bangladesh, what should not be regular is a deliberate flouting of judicial pronouncements on such matters as a removal of unauthorized billboards. Despite a specific High Court order on Rajuk in April last year that all such hoardings and billboards be removed, hardly anything has been done to comply with the order. The chairman of Rajuk now informs us that a lack of manpower has prevented an implementation of the HC directive. That begs the question: how is it that in an entire year Rajuk has not had the capacity to remove the billboards? Besides, why has it not come forth with any explanations about its failure until now?

It is extremely unfortunate that despite specific judicial directives, Rajuk has not moved towards pulling down the illegal billboards. It should have been its responsibility, when the HC revoked a stay order on the removal of the billboards in April 2010, to take swift action against those behind the erection of the billboards. That it did not has not only demonstrated a huge degree of callousness on its part but also, and more importantly, meant a heightened level of danger to citizens. The point here is not just that there is a risk to people from billboards during a storm. It is also the dark possibility of these billboards falling on the roads and on passersby at any given moment. That said, there is the obvious wrong the firms whose billboards have been put up have committed by not taking such factors into consideration. Where the standard rule around the world is for such hoardings to be placed at points where people are not vulnerable, it is highly mystifying that in Bangladesh no such precautions are taken.

We demand that Rajuk get moving by removing the billboards immediately. We also ask that the firms behind the billboards be roped into the job. They must not escape their responsibility.

Unsettled hill people

They need roofs to live under

SINCE last week's violent clashes between the Bengali settlers and the indigenous people in Ramgarh some of the latter have become homeless as reports suggest. More than fifty eight families were affected. Many of these people are now reportedly starving and living in open due to loss of abodes and belongings.

The foremost task of the administration is to settle these affected people. Why must the processes of rehabilitation face delay because the district administration is yet to prepare the list of affected families? We understand the authorities received varying figures of victimization, casualty and demands for compensation from different local union parishads. The authorities must independently verify the status of the affected families and individuals without being influenced by any quarter.

After what happened in Khagrachari should be a sufficient eye-opener to come to grips with the land disputes as early as possible in order to remove the portents of conflicts between the plainland settlers and the indigenous population.

How well the minorities are treated is increasingly becoming a test of good governance. It is the responsibility of the government and the hill tracts administration to find a durable solution to this social friction rooted in disputes over land. Resolution of the problems is a necessary precondition to all round development in the resourceful CHT region.

The CHT Land Commission should immediately devise ways and means to settle the land disputes on mutually acceptable basis. Overall, an inclusive, transparent and fair minded policy should be adopted so that the indigenous communities' rights to landownership and pursuit of happiness are provided for.