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News Analysis
Land grabbers thrive on deliberate indifference
Shamsul Huq Zahid
12/29/2004
The government is a damn big thing. Its power is enormous. It is also the biggest single owner of all movable and immovable assets. Unfortunately, inspite of having a huge machinery of control, the government is the most callous and inefficient entity that takes little interest in safeguarding its own interest. But such indifference is not without a reason.
The wastage or misappropriation of government funds is a common event. And those involved in spending the government money or checking irregularities in the same are themselves involved in the mischief. So, the people who are frequent witness to the wastage and embezzlement of government money or property have coined a six-word sentence in an alien language --- sarkar ka maal dariya mey dhal --- to vent their anger or frustration.
A case in point is the grabbing of government land in Dhaka and other places of the country. According to a report published in this daily Monday last, the government owns about 4.0 million acres of land and is the custodian of about 500,000 acres of vested and abandoned property across the country. But the government is such an owner who bothers least to know about the status of the lands under its ownership.
Thus, the inevitable has happened. A large part of government land, both in urban and rural areas, has gone under unauthorised occupation.
Of late, at the insistence of the concerned parliamentary standing committee and frequent media reports on grabbing of government land particularly by the real estate developers in Dhaka and its adjoining areas, the government is showing some signs of activity. It has formed two-high powered committees--- one headed by the land minister and the other by the cabinet secretary--- to deal with the relevant issues.
Both the committees have, reportedly, held several meetings but failed to make much headway in achieving their objectives due to less-than-required cooperation from the field-level government officials.
The traditional art of grabbing government land is known to almost everyone. The parties involved in the unholy practice of grabbing others' land prepare forged documents in connivance with the concerned field-level officials and employees of the land ministry. The real estate developers have been following the same old practice. What is more intriguing is that they, at times, allegedly, do grab private lands, particularly in suburbs of Dhaka, Gazipur, Savar, Rupganj and Keraniganj, in the same manner. The actual owners of such lands are virtually helpless against the developers who are rich and powerful.
One does not have to go places such as Gazipur or Savar to witness illegal occupation of public land. In the heart of Dhaka city, a vast area of government land owned by various government agencies or areas earmarked for roads and drains is under unauthorized occupation. The concerned agencies do not feel like evicting illegal occupiers. The reason behind such apathy can be anybody's guess.
Meanwhile, the government is contemplating amendments to at least two existing laws with a view to empowering the law enforcers to recover government as well as private lands from illegal occupation. If and when amended, the Government Local Authority Lands and Buildings (Recovery and Possessions) Ordinance, 1970, would facilitate imposition of tough penalties, including rigorous imprisonment, for the unauthorized occupiers of public and private lands and buildings.
There is no dearth of laws in Bangladesh to contain crime and punish criminals. But the problem lies with their enforcement. Not many people have witnessed the application of the existing laws relating to unauthorized occupation of public land. What is the guarantee that the toughened laws would be applied by the relevant authorities against wrongdoers? The amended laws might rather encourage them to demand more from the illegal occupiers in exchange of their deliberate inaction.
One of the feasible ways of recovering public land from the illegal occupation could be area-specific actions on the part of concerned authorities. There should not be any let-up in chasing the land grabbers in a land-scarce country.
Grabbers are generally seen to occupy lands of absentee owners. The government, being the biggest absentee owner, has thus lost a large part of its land. The government needs to establish firmly its authority over public lands and prepare a master plan for their short-, medium- and long-term uses.
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