The New Nation - Internet Edition

I am here to draw your kind attention of the authorities concerned regarding the proposed cricket stadium at Cox's Bazar. From the newspaper source we came to know that the present government is going to build a new cricket stadium at Cox's Bazar. Certainly it is a good decision for the development of infrastructure of our national cricket. But it is a matter of deep concern, worries and sad that the proposed site selected for that stadium is Kalatali, a very old village of Cox's Bazar, closed to the sea beach.

In the proposed place, plenty of paddies are grown twice a year that supply rice, the main food of the locality and the country. For the last few months, the country has been suffering for food especially for rice. The country was facing troubles to import rice from neighbour India. The policy makers are thinking, motivating and planning to increase production within the country. Undoubtedly the land used for paddy cultivation at Kalatalai is playing great roles towards our food self-sufficiency. If a cricket stadium is built over the place, then we will be doing great loss to our food production. Moreover people of an old village at Cox's Bazar will be landless like me as we don't have any more land at anywhere.

In that place there is a graveyard on the proposed place where many old local peoples were buried.

So I would like to ask the Chief Advisor, the honourable chief of National Sports Council and other relevant authorities as:

1. What reasons behind the building a cricket stadium through destroying the paddy production and making people land and shelter less?

2. What motives for building a cricket ground on a graveyard?

3. What reasons behind choosing an active role playing land where there are so many unproductive and unused land in Bangladesh?

The authorities concerned should please consider our appeals positively and take necessary steps in this regard.

Mohammad Hasmat Ali

Assistant Professor,

Department of Finance and Banking,

University of Chittagong