Just as people now know Sylhet as the city of tea, everyone will one day know the hill region as the land of coffee and cashew nuts, Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs Minister Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing has said.

He made the remark as chief guest at a discussion meeting at the Secretariat on Sunday (16 July), held to mark the 25th founding anniversary of the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs.

Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing said coffee and cashew nuts grow well in the hill region. "We are putting emphasis on coffee and cashew cultivation to reduce poverty. Just as people know Sylhet as the city of tea, one day everyone will know the hill region as the land of coffee and cashew nuts. We are working towards that goal," he said.

Answering journalists' questions, the minister said he would not claim the hill peace accord has been implemented 100 per cent. Efforts to implement it are continuing; clashes happen from time to time, which the law enforcement agencies are able to resolve.

Asked about a European Union delegation wanting to observe the election for six weeks, he said election matters are for the Election Commission, which is independent, and that the prime minister has said the election will be free and fair.

"We welcome election observation. If the Election Commission gives permission, every arrangement will certainly be made for them. You (journalists) can also go and tour the hill region if you like. Once you go, you will see what development has taken place there," he said.

Earlier, at the discussion meeting, the minister described various developments in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. He said Khagrachhari, Bandarban and Rangamati districts are a land of natural beauty, but British and Pakistani rule and exploitation and post-independence neglect had narrowed the region's boundless potential.

As a result, the region had long been neglected and backward in education, health, communications and socio-economic indicators, he said. Against this background, the historic Chittagong Hill Tracts peace accord was signed on 2 December 1997 without any third-party involvement, under the skilled, far-sighted and wise leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the indomitable daughter of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, ending two decades of conflict in the region, Bir Bahadur said.

Following the peace accord, a specialised ministry named the Ministry of Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs was set up on 15 July 1998 on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's instructions, for the socio-economic condition and overall development of the people of the greater hill region, he said. Of the accord's 72 clauses, 65 have been fully implemented, and the ministry is working to fully implement the remaining 7.

He added that mixed fruit is being grown in remote areas of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and poor people are being given solar panels free of charge, which light lamps and run fans. A master drain construction project has been taken up to improve water management and end waterlogging in Bandarban and Lama municipalities of the hill district, and drains have been built in various upazilas of Bandarban hill district.

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.