Dhaka: Lands Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury has expressed hope that a total of three land related laws, including the ‘Land Crimes Prevention and Remedies Act, 2023’, will be tabled in the National Parliament in the form of bills on September 4. The other two draft laws are the ‘Land Reforms Act, 2023’ and the ‘Balumhal and Soil Management (Amendment) Act, 2023’.
The Minister of Lands expressed this hope in his speech as the chief guest at the seminar on ‘Decentralization of Dhaka and Sustainable Urbanization in Bangladesh’ organized by the Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) at the DCCI Auditorium in the capital on Saturday (September 2). Land Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury also expressed hope that after due scrutiny, it will be possible to pass the three bills including the Land Crime Prevention and Remedial Act in the Parliament by next October.The land minister also said that once the recently started Bangladesh Digital Survey is completed, it will be possible to eliminate many problems in the previous survey. With digital land management, there is no more opportunity to own extra land outside the boundaries. He said at this time, we want people to be able to receive land services at home, so that no one has to go to the land office unless it is absolutely necessary. The less ‘human to human connection’, the better the service uptake.
The Land Minister agreed on having representatives from private sector in government service organizations and said that it can facilitate decision-making and work. The issue of representation may be considered following legal aspects.
The minister also said that the government has given utmost importance to the protection of three-crop agricultural land. At this time, the Land Minister called on the media and related non-governmental organizations and organizations to play the role of responsible “watchdog”.
The Secretary of the Ministry of Housing and Public Works Kazi Md. was present as a special guest in the seminar. Wasim Uddin and Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. Farhina Ahmed. Iqbal Habib, joint editor of Bangladesh Environment Movement (Bapa) and architect, presented the keynote at the seminar. The seminar was presided over by Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) President Barrister Samir Sattar.The panelists present in the seminar were Kazi Golam Nasir, former chief architect of the Directorate of Architecture under the Ministry of Housing and Public Works, Engineer Muhammad Sohail Rana, Vice President of Rehab, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Chief Executive Officer of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), Planner Mohammad Fazle, President of Bangladesh Institute of Planners. Reza Suman and Managing Director of New Dhara Assets Limited. Sadi-uz-Zaman.
Bangladesh Time: 0023 hours, September 03, 2023 MIH/RA
