Army camps to be pulled out from CHT: official

The government will take steps to gradually pull out army camps from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) to fully implement the CHT Peace Accord signed in 1997, reports UNB. "Some 235 army camps have been pulled out from the CHT so far and the remaining ones will be withdrawn gradually," said CHT Affairs acting secretary Nabobikram Kishor Tripura at a press conference at the Secretariat Thursday. About the implementation of the CHT Peace Accord, he said the government has already implemented most sections of the treaty. He said the government is working to amend the CHT Land Commission Act 2001. "The draft law has been sent to the Land Ministry for review." About NGOs, which are working on the CHT, Nabobikram Tripura said the Ministry of CHT Affairs formed a monitoring cell to watch the activities of NGOs. He said the ministry has taken various progarmmes, including cultural festival and fair, to observe the 14th anniversary of the CHT Peace Accord. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the festival at Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the city on December 4. Newly appointed minister and AL leader Obaidul Quader will inaugurate the fair at Shilpakala Academy on December 5.