Environmentalists demand scrapping of golf course deal with Dhaka Club
Wednesday, 14 November 2007
Environmentalists Tuesday demanded immediate scrapping of the agreement with Dhaka Club for developing the historic Suhrawardy Uddyan as golf course saying the city dwellers will lose a recreational space, reports UNB.
Secretary General of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan (BAPA) Abdul Matin stated this at a press conference at the National Press Club in the city Tuesday.
BAPA President Prof Dr Mozaffar Ahmed, former Adviser to the Caretaker Government ASM Shahjahan and Prof Abu Sayeed also spoke at the press conference.
Speaking on the occasion, Abdul Matin said the Dhaka City has the least recreational facilities for the citizens. If the Uddyan is developed as a golf course the citizens will be restricted from the place.
He rejected the claim of Dhaka Club that the city dwellers will be allowed in the golf course. "No golf course in the world is open to the general people," he said.
Matin said Suhrawardy Uddyan is a place of historic significance. This is where the national independence was declared, the defeated occupation force of Pakistan surrendered, the Language Movement started, Pakistan president Mohammad Ali Jinnah declared Urdu alone will be the state language of Pakistan.
The government got the area from the Nawab of Dhaka back in 1926 and then gave it to the Gymkhana Club for turning it into a racecourse. After independence in 1971, horse racing was banned and the government reclaimed the area and raised it as an Uddyan named after Hossain Shaheed Suhrawardy.
Public Works Ministry under an agreement on June 18 gave 25 acres of the land of Suhrawardy Uddyan to Dhaka Club to raise the golf course. About 40 per cent work on the golf course has already been completed.
Secretary General of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolan (BAPA) Abdul Matin stated this at a press conference at the National Press Club in the city Tuesday.
BAPA President Prof Dr Mozaffar Ahmed, former Adviser to the Caretaker Government ASM Shahjahan and Prof Abu Sayeed also spoke at the press conference.
Speaking on the occasion, Abdul Matin said the Dhaka City has the least recreational facilities for the citizens. If the Uddyan is developed as a golf course the citizens will be restricted from the place.
He rejected the claim of Dhaka Club that the city dwellers will be allowed in the golf course. "No golf course in the world is open to the general people," he said.
Matin said Suhrawardy Uddyan is a place of historic significance. This is where the national independence was declared, the defeated occupation force of Pakistan surrendered, the Language Movement started, Pakistan president Mohammad Ali Jinnah declared Urdu alone will be the state language of Pakistan.
The government got the area from the Nawab of Dhaka back in 1926 and then gave it to the Gymkhana Club for turning it into a racecourse. After independence in 1971, horse racing was banned and the government reclaimed the area and raised it as an Uddyan named after Hossain Shaheed Suhrawardy.
Public Works Ministry under an agreement on June 18 gave 25 acres of the land of Suhrawardy Uddyan to Dhaka Club to raise the golf course. About 40 per cent work on the golf course has already been completed.