Land acquisition going on in full swing
Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed Wednesday urged the administration to help complete construction work of planned garment palli (village) at Bausia in Munshiganj district within the next three years.
“I call upon you (district administration) to complete the construction work of garment palli in three years’ time,” he told the media after addressing the deputy commissioners (DCs) on the second day of the ongoing DC Conference 2014 at the conference room of the cabinet division on the day.
The government felt the necessity of setting up a garment palli on 530 acres of land at Bausia to relocate the ready-made garment (RMG) factories, particularly set up in unplanned way at various localities of the capital.
Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina instructed the concerned authorities to start taking necessary measures to set up the industrial village.
“The land acquisition work which started last year is going on in full swing,” former president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Shafiqul Islam Mohiuddin told the FE.
An amount of Tk 100 billion (Tk 10,000 crore) will be required for establishing the garment palli. A factory owner will have to pay Tk 6.5 million for one bigha of land there, industry insiders said.
The garment industrial park will have plots with infrastructural facilities, utility services, medical facilities, central effluent treatment plants (CETPs), day-care centres, roads, drainage facilities, waste-dumping yards, fire-fighting equipments, banks, insurance offices and IT (information technology) parks.
The palli will be a unique model for the apparel sector meeting all compliance issues like workplace environment, health and fire safety.
The apparel manufacturers have been demanding for long a planned RMG village outside the capital, which, they said, will help develop the industry further to keep pace with growing apparel exports.
The government will acquire the land while the BGMEA will develop the garment palli. The process is going on to acquire necessary land for the palli, and the association is expected to start the next phase of works by the end of this year.
“If everything goes alright, we hope to start land development work by early next year. We hope to complete the RMG enclave by the end of the fiscal year 2015-16,” an influential leader of BGMEA told the FE.
The Commerce Minister said the government is determined to control rising prices of essential commodities not only for the ongoing month of Ramadan but also for the rest of the year.
He said it is the responsibility of the government to monitor market prices so that prices of essential commodities remain within the purchasing capacity of the consumers.
In this regard, he instructed the DCs to monitor the kitchen markets so that prices of essential commodities could not be raised abruptly by the unscrupulous traders.
“I asked the DCs to take initiatives for containing price hike of essential commodities not only during Ramadan but also throughout the year,” he said.
Replying to a query, Mr Tofail said, “The government came to power for five years and will complete its full tenure”.
thefinancialexpress