Stop building 5-star hotel in Bandarban

Members of the Mro community yesterday demanded that the construction of a five-star hotel and amusement park in the Chimbuk Naitong hills be stopped, saying that the project was destroying the ecological balance and risking indigenous life in the area.

At a press conference in Bandarban's Kapru Para Bazar, the Mro people also demanded immediate cancellation of the project and assurance that the authorities would refrain from setting up tourism or recreation centres on Mro jhum land in Chimbuk area.

In a press release, issued after the press conference, they said around 800 to 1,000 acres of jhum land would be grabbed if the five-star hotel was built in the hills.

They alleged that Kwe Shwe Hla, chairman of Bandarban Hill District Council, leased out 20 acres of their jhum land for the project without any discussions with the locals, which was nothing but betrayal.

The Bandarban Hill District Council is obliged to remain accountable maintaining transparency in this regard, the release said.

A welfare organisation and Sikder Group started the construction work after allegedly grabbing jhum land in Dola and Kapru paras.

On October 7, people of the Mro community urged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to save their ancestral villages at Naitong hills after submitting a memorandum through the deputy commissioner of Bandarban.

Around a thousand people from the community staged a cultural showdown in Chimbuk area on November 8, protesting the construction work on their ancestral land. They also called upon the authorities concerned to stop the work immediately.