Ads of unauthorised housing project

We hail yesterday's (December 7th) High Court verdict banning advertisements of unauthorised housing projects in print and electronic media. We wish the media and Rajuk will follow the court directives in letter and spirit. It is well known how the innocent people are falling prey to the land grabbers and dishonest property developers. Being attracted by the colourful ads in newspapers and on TV, many people rush there with the hope of having a permanent address in the city. But many of them in the long run are cheated. The dishonest traders after amassing huge wealth show their back to the clients or simply disappear. It is baffling us how this unscrupulous business has been continuing for years after years, decade after decade. Not to speak of the poor clients, these powerful gangsters remain out of reach of the law enforcing agencies. Needless to say they spend a part of the money to manage the law enforcers as well as the government agencies. It is not clear to us why Rajuk or other related government agencies had to wait for the court verdict. We understand the existing laws of the land as well as those of Rajuk should be enough to go for action against the misdeeds of any individual or organisation. Banning advertisements of unauthorised housing projects will not only safeguard the poor clients, the court verdict, if implemented should play a role in reducing the prices of land and apartments as well. The reason, the genuine developers will not have to make costly ads and put them on TV and in newspapers. Rajuk can best ensure the adherence of the court verdict. It can monitor the ads coming in the media and see if those relate to authorised projects or not. At the same time Rajuk should ensure that its approval order for any project is printed in the brochures of the related project-be it a plot or an apartment. In case of apartment, the plan as approved by Rajuk must also be printed in such brochure. The media has a responsibility towards society. Instead of going for money through ads without considering the adverse impact of such ads, the media should restrict them from being a patron of the unscrupulous land grabbers and developers. This is not in the case of unauthorised housing projects only; media should also consider carrying ads of so-called herbal medicines and cosmetics as well as the so-called homoeopath physicians who claim to be curer of all diseases including cancer. Anesha Ahmed Khan Hatirpool, Dhaka