Influence exerted for approval of economic zones

Sajjadul Hasan was once the personal secretary (PS) of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina. He served as the PS of the former prime minister for three years from 2015. At that time, he secured the government approval for an economic zone in his district, Netrakona using his power.

As soon as he was promoted as the secretary of the prime minister’s office in 2018, a new project worth Tk 15 billion was taken up for that economic zone. Former prime minister Sheikh Hasina laid the foundation of the ‘Netrakona Special Economic Zone’ during her Mymensingh visit that year. Although nine years have passed since the approval of the project, there hasn’t been any progress.

Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority (BEZA) officials say the special economic zone in Netrakona will never be financially profitable as it will not be able to draw foreign investment due to lack of a proper communication system. The money invested by the government will not come to any use either.

This came up in their survey. Despite that, they had to approve the proposal for the economic zone due to pressure from the upper level of the government.

After retiring from the government job, Sajjadul Hasan was elected a lawmaker from the Netrakona-4 constituency in the controversial twelfth general election. Prothom Alo tried to contact Sajjadul over the phone for his comment in this regard, but he didn’t respond.

Like Sajjadul, several ministers, secretaries, politicians and businesspersons secured approval for at least 30 such economic zones exerting force and using power in the last 15 years.

After taking over in 2009, the Awami League government declared to establish 100 economic zones across the country. The government founded the BEZA in 2010 to implement the economic zone projects and to run them.

After the formation of the interim government on 8 August, Ashique Chowdhury was appointed the executive chairman of the BEZA.

He told Prothom Alo, it’s not possible to implement 100 economic zones at once. Besides, all economic zones will not yield profit. So he will prepare a priority list on the basis of the importance of the respective economic zones. He will review all the economic zones that have been approved. Approval for the economic zones, which will not be profitable and will not get investments, will be reconsidered, he said.

According to the BEZA, the then government approved the projects for a total of 104 economic zones in the governing board meetings. Some 68 of these zones are government and 36 are private.

However, only the Bangabandhu Shilpa Nagar in Mirsarai of Chattogram, the Japanese Economic Zone at Araihazar of Narayanganj and the Srihatta Economic Zone in Moulvibazar saw some visible progress.

Salman F Rahman, private industry and investment adviser to the former prime minister Sheikh Hasina, secured an approval for an economic zone in his electoral area in 2019. The estimated cost for the project was Tk 19.15 billion, including the cost for land acquisition and infrastructural construction. The whole project was supposed to be financed by the government. The cost for acquiring some 881 acres of land under the project was estimated at Tk 5.75 billion.

Analysing the document it has been found that the mouza rate for the land selected for the economic zone was quite higher than the market rate. However, the mouza rate was shown much lower than the actual rate on documents.

Sources say the BEZA officials opposed the project right from the start. They said there was not that much khaas land in that area. Besides, the price of land was quite high there. They estimated a cost of more than Tk 25 billion for land acquisition alone. Despite such a huge investment, the economic zone would not yield any profit, the officials said.

However, Salman F Rahman did not pay any heed to them. But the Awami League government was ousted before the final approval of the project. This correspondent could not get Salman F Rahman’s comment in this regard as he is currently imprisoned.

The then government approved the construction of two separate economic zones in the Kotalipara and Sadar upazilas of Gopalganj. A project worth Tk 4.85 billion was taken up for the construction of an economic zone in Kotalipara.

The BEZA officials say the projects were taken only to appease the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina. There was no need for two separate economic zones in the same district. Now, in the changed context, these projects are likely to be cancelled.

Former food minister Abdur Razzaque, secured the approval for an economic zone in his electoral constituency in Tangail, former MP Naimur Rahman Durjoy got an approval for two economic zones in his districts and controversial businessperson S Alam secured a government approval for an economic zone in Chattogram’s Banshkhali.

BEZA says the proposals for these economic zones are likely to be discarded. The projects for economic zones in Barisal, Cox's Bazar's Maheshkhali, Bhola, Brahmanbaria's Ashuganj, Narsingdi, Narayanganj's Sonargaon, Natore's Lalpur, Bagerhat's Sundarbans, Khagrachhari's Alutila, Naogaon's Sapahar, Sunamganj, Manikganj, Gazipur's Sreepur, Khulna, Mymensingh and Madaripur are likely to be discarded.

Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) distinguished fellow Mostafizur Rahman told Prothom Alo, “In the changed context, the interim government has the chance to reorganise the priority list for economic zones and cancel the projects that lack viability.”

*This report appeared on the print and online versions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Ashish Basu