Leaders of the Bhumi O Sampad Rokhkha Committee, an organisation of the locals adversely affected by the Barapukuria coalmine, at a rally at Phulbari in Dinajpur on Saturday rejected the rehabilitation package offered by the government.
They said they were not against the coalmine but the government should provide them with proper compensation. The price of their land has been grossly under-valued and the rehabilitation package is far from adequate, they said.
A 10-point agreement was signed in May 2009 between the movement leaders and Petrobangla high officials after the prime minister assured the locals that the government would provide them with proper compensation and rehabilitation according to international rules, they said. But they complained the National Economic Council on November 8 approved a rehabilitation package in which there is no reflection of the prime minister’s assurance.
The Barapukuria union council chairman Anwar Hossain Mandal presided over the rally.
