The government is losing revenue worth of crores from the sand fields of Jaintapur upazilain Sylhet due to the chaotic situation created by transport workers and conspiracy of a vested quarter.
Although the district administration has taken initiative to lease the sand fields as per the govt rules, it is always being thwarted by the conspiracies of some vested interests.
In the meantime, even though three sand fields have been leased, the activities have been temporarily suspended due to extortion and anarchy of strike by some transport leaders.
When the strike was called off on Sunday after a seven-day transport strike, the transport workers were forcibly taking sand without paying royalties, said Shaheen Ahmed, the lessee. He alleged that the Officer-in-Charge of Jaintapur police station Mohsin Ali was not cooperating in any way regarding the issue.
It is learned that after taking the lease of 'Sari Nadi 1-2 and Bara Gang Balumhal of the upazila from the district administration in June this year, the Jaintapur upazila administration formally handed over the sand fields to Messrs SA Enterprise, the lessee on August 7. Upazila Parishad Chairman and JaintapurAwami League President Kamal Ahmed, Upazila Nirbahi Officer Nahida Parveen and Land Officer Faruk Ahmed were present on the occasion.
At this time, they specified Sarufaud area as a place for collecting government revenue. From then on, the lessee authorities started collecting government revenue from sand carts. But a group blocked the Sylhet-Tamabil road by spreading rumors of extortion from transport.
Meanwhile, the Jaintapur 17 Parganas Arbitration Committee held a meeting on August 20 to solve the anarchy. At the meeting, the lessee sought the cooperation of the district administration to save them from anarchists.
In this regard, Shaheen Ahmed, the proprietor of the Leasing Company, said that after taking lease of three sand fields from the district administration for Tk 1.2 crore, a group demanded a large amount of extortion money from him. As he did not pay the money, they are trying to obstruct the collection of government revenue and creating anarchy.
In this regard, Jaintapur Upazila Parishad Chairman and Awami League unit President Kamal Ahmed said that a group is creating obstacles in the collection of revenue of the government by spreading rumours of extortion on social media. They are not even following government regulations to protect their interests.
When asked, Jaintapur Upazila Nirbahi Officer Nahida Parveen said, "Activities are closed for the time being. Sand extraction activities will be resumed from the leased palaces soon”.
