Special Correspondent :
A powerful quarter is allegedly erecting a Five-Star Hotel on Kalatoli beach in Cox’s Bazar violating bylaws of local development authority and district administration’s land lease agreement.
Among other things, in the process of erecting the hotel, the quarter reportedly violated the layout plan, Height Restriction Law and Environment Conservation Act.
The quarter influenced the people placed in powerful positions to run the illegal construction work of the hotel named, ‘Radisson Blu Cox’s Bazar.’ Civil work of the nine-storied hotel has already been completed.
Construction of the hotel started on 19 February in 2015 on a large chunk of government khas land (2 acre), which was actually leased out to the Hotel Agrabad in November 2008 by the Cox’s Bazar district administration slapping a number of conditions. The land was located within the Hotel Motel Zone in Cox’s Bazar. In 2009, the Hotel Agrabad authorities sold a portion of the leased land to a controversial businessman based in Dhaka in a shady deal violating several conditions of the lease agreement.
“I joined Cox’s Bazar district administration recently. The issue is yet to come to my knowledge, ” Kamal Hossain, Deputy Commissioner of Cox’s Bazar District told The New Nation yesterday.
He, however, said the District Administration will launch an investigation into the matter and action will be taken if the lease agreement is found violated. Sources said although the hotel project is officially shown a venture of Chattagram based conglomerate Clewiston Group, a powerful syndicate comprising businessmen of Dhaka and Chattogram is sponsoring the hotel project from behind the scene.
“We came to know that the hotel is being erected violating construction proceedings laws. We asked the hotel authorities to submit the layout plan. They have already submitted it. Now we’re verifying it. If any deviation of the plan is found we will take legal action,” Lt Col. (Retd) Forkan Ahmed, Chairman of Cox’s Bazar Development Authority (Cox’DA), told The New Nation yesterday.
He said the construction site of the hotel is situated in the restricted zone of the beach, which is a gross violation of the by laws of Cox’DA. The issue will be placed before the board of the Cox’DA for legal proceedings. CoxDA is responsible to control the unplanned development of any kind on the land and development projects in the tourism city.
When asked, Forkan Ahmed said, “Not only Radisson Blu, several hotels are also being developed without applying proper rules and regulations. As they have already taken full shape, how can we demolish them? It will be waste of money and damage of property.
It was also alleged that the hotel authorities started the construction work of the project prior to getting the ‘site clearance certificate’ from the Department of Environment.
“We issued the site clearance certificate for the hotel project on 11 January in 2016,” Syful Asrab, Deputy Director of the Department of Environment (Cox’s Bazar office) told The New Nation yesterday.
The construction work of the hotel began on 19 February in 2015 by Clewiston Foods and Accommodations Ltd.
Proshanta K. Halder, Chairman of the Company, denied his involvement in the hotel project, saying, “I am not involved in the project. But I personally know some of the sponsors.”
