CDA has no right to lease Patenga beach: Porikolpito Chattogram Forum
If the open environment at Patenga beach is constricted by ticketing now, it may be restrained further in the future
The Chattogram Development Authority (CDA) has no right to lease Patenga beach in Chattogram to any private organisation, said an organisation named Porikolpito Chattogram Forum at a press conference.
In the press conference organised at the press club of the city on Saturday, the speakers of the forum said that the CDA has taken the initiative to commercially lease one and a half kilometres area in two zones of the two ends of the sea shore in Patenga beach to local and foreign companies for 25 years, which is illegal as the High Court has banned such activities.
Engineer Subhash Barua, vice-president of the organisation, said in a written statement that any advanced city has playgrounds, parks and other facilities for recreation and entertainment of all classes of people. Chattogram city does not have even a quarter of these facilities.
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Rather public access to public places has been shrunken or closed in various ways whereas many sophisticated cities in developed countries try to expand open spaces. The conservation of Patenga beach as a public open space has also been mentioned in the Detailed Area Plan of the CDA.
Economist Muhammad Sikandar Khan, president of the forum, said that shops and restaurants on the Honolulu beach in the United States do not hinder the movement of tourists. Any person can travel inside the hotel.
If the open environment at Patenga beach is constricted by ticketing now, it may be restrained further in the future. Everyone should come forward so that the gift of nature remains open and can be enjoyed by all, he added.
It was informed in the press conference that the forum sent a letter to the CDA and the relevant ministries asking to stop the leasing initiative. The forum will take the next step after it gets a response. It is also informed that legal action will be taken if necessary.
Co-chairman of the forum Engineer ABMA Based, its Vice President Architect Ahmed Jinnur Chowdhury, Member Nazim Uddin, Joint Editor Taslima Muna and others were also present in the press conference moderated by forum member Shahriar Khaled.
