19 Feb, 2016 by DhakaTribune

SECOND EDITION

97 Sal forest grabbers targeted n Abu Bakar Siddique The government is ready to go after influential individuals and industrial big shots who have long been grabbing forest land in Gazipur. The plan is to launch a crash programme for evicting structures that had been set up by 97 grabbers – all of them industrialists, influential persons or wealthy individuals. At its meeting on January 7, the seven-member Parliamentary Standing Committee on Environment and Forest Ministry, chaired by former minister Hasan Mahmud, directed the Forest Department to initiate the evictions. According to the minutes of the meeting, the Forest Department identified a total 155 grabbers who have so far grabbed 556.28 acres of land in different areas of Gazipur’s Sal forest. Of those identified, immediate eviction was recommended against 97 grabbers. The document signed by the standing committee chairman reads: “The land which have been grabbed by influential, industry owners and well-off should be restored by taking a crash programme.” Meanwhile, the land that has been grabbed by poor people should be restored through social forestry, it also reads. “We have already sent a letter to the deputy commissioner of Gazi-

INSIDE HC opens political parties’ financial records for public The High Court yesterday ruled that citizens would have access to the income and expense statements of political parties from the Election Commission.  PAGE 3

Evidence found against three Mymensingh collaborators The investigation agency of the International Crimes Tribunal has found evidence against three people from Phulbaria of Mymensingh about their alleged involvement in war-time crimes in 1971.  PAGE 5 The greenery of Gazipur’s Sal forest have long been under the threat of grabbers, who have used their influence and wealth to evade the law. The photo was taken recently SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

FULL LIST OF GRABBERS

pur to take the necessary action, as he is the authority to take eviction measures,” said the chief conservator of forest, Yunus Ali, who was also present at the standing committee meeting in January. There had not been any such initiative in the past, Yunus Ali told the Dhaka Tribune.

According to the Forest Department, the total area of Sal forest in Bangladesh is around 120,000 hectares, which is 7.5% of total government-owned forest land. Syeda Rizwana Hasan, chief executive of Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), said the move should be implemented immediately to save the gradually depleting Sal forest.

In addition, the government should make the grabbers pay compensation for the damage they had been doing to the forest for so long. “With the compensation money, the forest department could go for afforestation measures,” Rizwana said. She, however, questioned the sincerity of the Forest Department’s intention of evicting the culprits. l

Neanderthal DNA redraws human outof-Africa timeline A group of modern humans that arrived in Eurasia far earlier than previously thought also had sex with Neanderthals, according to a study that redraws the migratory timeline for our species.  PAGE 23

Deal signed to send 1.5 million workers to Malaysia n Adil Sakhawat Bangladesh yesterday inked a deal to send 1.5 million workers to Malaysia under Government to Government Plus mechanism. Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Nurul Islam and Human Resources Minister of Malaysia Dato’ Sri Richard Riot Anak Jaem signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) at Prabasi Kallyan Bhaban in the capital. Malaysia stopped taking Bangladeshi migrants in 2008 but resumed it under the G2G mechanism in 2013 for the plantation sector. But that scheme did not work. With the signing of the MoU, the previous system will no longer be in place. Under the G2G Plus scheme, the

private recruiting agencies too can send manpower from Bangladesh. By signing the MoU yesterday, Malaysia has opened its all sectors to Bangladeshis like service, agriculture, construction, housemaid and plantation sectors. At the ceremony, Minister Nurul Islam said that Bangladesh would now be treated as a source country to Malaysia for importing manpower. He also said that the MoU was signed initially for five years and later it could be extended upon the two countries’ consensus. This time the migration cost would be between Tk37,000 and Tk39,000. The workers would be taken from the existing database of the government, the minister added. Earlier, many Bangladeshi workers and rights-based organi-

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The migration cost would be between Tk37,000 and Tk39,000 The minimum wage for Bangladeshi workers would be between RM800 and RM900 Under G2G Plus, private recruiting agencies too can send workers

sations reported about low pay and exploitation in Malaysia. On this issue, the minister said that the policy would be determined by the Bangladeshi High Commission in Malaysia and there would be no way that the Malaysian employers can do so. “Also the joint working group on the MoU will sit regularly to discuss complaints from the workers or the weakness of the employment process,” he said. Malaysian Human Resources Minister Richard Riot assured that the process of recruitment, employment and repatriation under the new mechanism would be implemented as per the respective labour laws of the two countries. He said that the minimum wage for the Bangladeshi workers would

be between RM800 and RM900. “Malaysia maintains the standard set by the International Labour Organisation,” he added. In reply to a question, the Malaysian minister said that there would be no chance for monopoly or syndication this time and that his government would remain fair and transparent in the process. The Bangladeshi aspirants would be vetted for security and criminal activities, and self screening would be conducted before hiring them. The recruitment agencies would be evaluated through the online system, said Riot. He also assured the Bangladeshi government that the minimum wage set for the foreign workers in Malaysia would be equally enjoyed  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1