Governance in Land Acquisition Process: A Study on Shreehatta Economic Zone, Moulovibazar

Sabina Yasmin, Ruhi Begum, Muhammad Mustofa Kamal

Abstract


Land acquisition in Bangladesh for development activities is considered a critical issue. This study attempts to explore the existing scenario of the governance in the land acquisition process at Shreehatta Economic Zone, Moulovibazar, Bangladesh. This study is based on both the primary and secondary sources of data. The primary data was collected from 55 respondents which include both administrative officials and the project affected people and the secondary data was collected from different renowned journals, official documents of the administration, newspapers, and other relevant sources. The study reveals that there exists malpractices in the land acquisition process, where project-affected people do not get fair compensation and they are forced to pay bribe for getting compensation. In spite of having national and international guidelines for land acquisition, officials unethically acquire the agricultural land by misusing their discretionary power which leads the project affected people to more vulnerability.


Full Text:

PDF

References


Atahar, S. A. (2013). Development Project, Land Acquisition, and Resettlement in Bangladesh; A Quest for Well Formulated National Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 3(7), 306-319. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/276268916003 [Accessed on 4th October, 2018].

Basu, P. (2007). The political economy of land grab. Economic and Political Weekly, 42(14), 1281–1287. ISSN-0012-9976 (Print) ISSN-2349-8846. Available from: https://www.epw.in/system/files/pdf/2007_42/14/Political_Economy_of_Land_Grab.pdf [Accessed on 18th October, 2018].

Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA), (2019). Available from: https://www.beza.gov.bd/economic-zones-site/ [Accessed on 20th March, 2020].

Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), (2020). Available from: https://www.bbs.govt.bd/[Accessed on 21th March, 2020].

Cernea, M., & Mathur, H. M. (2009). Can Compensation Prevent Impoverishment? Reforming Resettlement through Investment and Benefit-Sharing. Oxford University Press. Journal of Refugee Studies, 22(1), 130-132. https://doi.org/10.1093/jrs/fep006

Chan, N. (2003). Land acquisition compensation in China–problems and answers. International Real Estate Review, 6(1), 136-152.

Chandrasekhar, T. C. (2009). Rationality of SEZ in India: Cross country review some lesson to India. Southern Economist, 21(1), 8-10.

FAO, (2009). Compulsory acquisition of land and compensation, FAO Land Tenure Studies. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome Itality. ISBN 978-92-5-106143-5, Available from: http://www.fao.org/nr/lten/lten_en.htm [Accessed on 11th December, 2018].

FAO, (2008). Compulsory acquisition of land and compensation, FAO Land Tenure Studies. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Rome, Itality. Available from: http://www.fao.org/3/i0506e/i0506e00.pdf [Accessed on 25th March , 2020].

Fernanades, et al, (2012). Progress: At whose cost? Development-induced displacement in West Bengal 1947–2000. Guwahati: North Eastern Research Centre.

Islam, M. A. (2019). Law and Practice for Land Acquisition in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Journal of Legal Studies. Available from: https://bdjls.org/law-and-practice-for-land-acquisition-in-bangladesh/ [Accessed on 11th April, 2019].

International Institute for Environment and Development. (2018). Special economic zones: engines of development or sites of exploitation. Available from: http://pubs.iied.org/17481IIED [Accessed on 8th July, 2019].

Karmakar, P. (2017). Politics of Development: Land Acquisition and Economic Development in India. Journal of Land and Rural Studies, 5(2) 164-182. https://doi.org/10.1177/2321024917703848

Kurian, N. J. (2000) Widening regional disparities in India: Some indicators. Economic and Political Weekly, 35(7), 538–550.

Landell-Mills, P., & Serageldin, I. (1991). Governance and the external factor. World Bank Staff Paper. Washington, DC: World Bank. https://doi.org/10.1093/wber/5.suppl_1.303

Mamun, F. A., & Alam, M. (2019). Land Acquisition for Development Projects: Corruption in Compensation Process Tarnishes Government Image [Online]. Available from: https://www.daily-sun.com/amp/post/367287 [Accessed on 19th April, 2019].

Mazid, M. A. (2019). Special Economic Zones in Bangladesh: A reappraisal approaches. The Financial Express, pp. Available from: https://thefinancialexpress.com. bd/views/ special-economic-zones-in-bangladesh- a-reappraisal-of-approaches-1568473929 [Accessed on 20th November, 2019].

Owen et al, (2015). Land and Political corruption in Sub Saharan Africa. Transparency International

Palmer, D., Fricska, S., & Wehrmann, B. (2009). Towards Improved Land Governance (Land Tenure Working Paper 11). Available from: http://www.fao.org/3/a-ak999e.pdf [Accessed on 10th February, 2020).

Parwez, S., & Sen, V. (2016). Special Economic Zone, Land Acquisition, and Impact on Rural India, 2(2) 223-239. https://doi.org/10.1177/2394901516661104

Rahman, S. M. (2013). Compulsory Purchase Procedure in Bangladesh.. Department of Real Estate and Construction Management, Thesis Number: 284, Stockholm. Available from:https://knowledgehub.transparency.org/assets/uploads/kproducts/ Land-Corruption-Topic-Guide-2018-with-picture.pdf [Accessed on 24th March, 2020].

Takwani, C. K. (1980). Lectures on administrative law. Lucknow : Eastern Book Company.

The Acquisition and Requisition of Immovable Property Ordinance, 1982. (issued on 13th April 1982), Bangladesh Gazette, Extraordinary, Ministry of Law, Land Administration and Land Reforms. Available from: https://www.bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd [Accessed on 9th March, 2020].

The Constitution of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, [latest amendment April, 2008] Part III, Article-42.

Transparency International, (2011). Corruption in the Land Sector. (Working paper). Available from: https://reliefweb.int/report/world/corruption-land-sector [Accessed on 21th November, 2018].

Transparency International Bangladesh, survey-presentation-2012 [Accessed on 21th November 2018].

Transparency International, (2018). Land Corruption Topic Guide Compiled by the Anti-Corruption Helpdesk Corruption in the Land Sector. Available from: https://knowledgehub.transparency.org/assets/uploads/kproducts/Land-Corruption-Topic-Guide-2018-with-picture.pdf [Accessed on 18th April, 2020].

The Daily Star (April 4, 2017) Higher price for acquired land. [Online]. Available from: https://www.thedailystar.net/backpage/higher-price-acquired-land-1386058. [Accessed on 17th April, 2020].

The Dhaka Tribune, (August 17th, 2019). Socio-economic impact of Padma Bridge: A new lease of life for many. Available from: https://www.dhakatribune.com /business/2019/08/17/socio-economic-impact-of-padma-bridge-a-new-lease-of-life-for-many [Accessed on 14thApril, 2020]

World Bank, FIAS. (2008). Special economic zones,performance, lessons learned, and implications for zone development. Washington, DC: World Bank

Zaman, M. (2002). Resettlement and development in Indonesia. Journal of Contemporary Asia, 32(2), 255-266. ISSN: 0047-2336 (Print) 1752-7554 (Online). https://doi.org/10.1080/00472330280000161




DOI: https://doi.org/10.5296/jpag.v10i2.17015

Copyright (c) 2020 Sabina Yasmin, Ruhi Begum, Muhammad Mustofa Kamal

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Journal of Public Administration and Governance  ISSN 2161-7104

Email: jpag@macrothink.org

Copyright © Macrothink Institute

To make sure that you can receive messages from us, please add the 'macrothink.org' domain to your e-mail 'safe list'. If you do not receive e-mail in your 'inbox', check your 'bulk mail' or 'junk mail' folders. 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------