A particular organisation is misusing a court order to obstruct development activities in Cox’s Bazar, State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam has said.

He said Cox’s Bazar is an important part of the country’s heritage and identity. The government is working to upgrade Cox’s Bazar Municipality to a city corporation with the aim of transforming the coastal town into an international-standard tourist destination.

The state minister made the remarks on Saturday during an exchange of views with a delegation of the Local Government Division after visiting Rohingya camps in Cox’s Bazar.

Claiming that various conspiracies have long been underway to prevent the development of tourism and infrastructure in Cox’s Bazar, Shahe Alam said, “The government is in a difficult situation over Cox’s Bazar. Whenever the government takes steps to develop Cox’s Bazar into a beautiful tourist city, an organisation approaches the High Court and obtains an injunction preventing the implementation of government development projects.”

“How can we develop Cox’s Bazar city if this continues?” he asked.

He alleged that the organisation subsequently misuses court orders to repeatedly obstruct development activities.

The state minister said a road construction project from Laboni Point along the seafront to the area in front of Hotel Ramada in Kolatoli was undertaken by the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives.

The project, estimated to cost around Tk128 crore, had already gone through the tender process, he said. However, just before work was scheduled to begin, an organisation approached the High Court and obtained an injunction, bringing the project to a halt.

The Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA), an environmental non-governmental organisation, had approached the High Court, objecting to the Tk128-crore road project on the Cox’s Bazar sea beach, citing concerns over the protection of the beach environment and sand dunes and the construction of the road in an Ecologically Critical Area (ECA).

Following a hearing, the court directed the local government authorities and the municipality to refrain from carrying out the road construction work. The project has remained suspended since then.

Referring to restrictions imposed by the Cox’s Bazar Development Authority, Mir Shahe Alam said construction of any structure within 300 metres of the seashore is prohibited.

Cox’s Bazar-3 MP Lutfur Rahman Kajal and Chattogram-14 MP Jasim Uddin Ahmed, among others, were present during the visit to the Rohingya camp.