Besides, the haat has lost its charm due to illegal occupation of the haat. As a result, businessmen have been turning away. Due to this, intense anger has spread among the general buyers & sellers.
Several people including Nurul Islam, Abbas Ali, residents of that area said, “Buyers and sellers used to come from far away at Jamail haat. But day by day the haat place has been getting vacant. The tradition of haat has been getting lost due to the decrease of haat space. Because traders have been coming less in the haat now.
So there have been less shops due to non-availability of required products according to demand, buyers have not come to haat. As a result, they have been getting discouraged day by day.In such a situation, the influential Abdur Razzak has been constructing a shed by occupying the haat place again. They commented that if the haat has been continued to be occupied like this, the haat may no longer exist”
Thandu Mia, the managing lessee of the haat said, Illegal occupant Abdur Razzak has occupied the place of the haat before. Now taking possession of the new land, he has started constructing a brick and tin shed about 200 feet long.He has been even illegally occupying the haat places and collecting toll regularly.”
“His (Abdur Razzak) illegal activities were reported to the upazila administration but no effective action was taken.” they also commented.
When asked , the chairman of the union Zakir Hossain said, Some confusions has been being spread about the place of the haat.
“A local community has been claiming ownership of the haat place.However, spreading these confusions will not be effective. So after getting the information about the illegal construction of houses in the place of the haat, I sent the village police there and ordered to stop the work. Apart from this, necessary measures will be taken to clear the occupation of the haat through the upazila administration as soon as possible”
the accused Abdur Razzak claimed his innocence and said,” I did not occupy any place in the haat because there is no haat place here.My father donated 68 decimal to the local primary school and 85 decimal to the madrasa.Meanwhile, the haat has been sitting in the place of the primary school for a long time. So the haat has no place of its own.”
“I am constructing house on the land bought from my aunt (my father’s sister)
“I do not see any fault in this regard.” he added.
Upazila executive officer.Moinul Islam said, “if a haat has been established in a place for a long time, it has automatically become the property of the government haat. There is also the Hat Bazaar (Establishment and Management Act) for this purpose. So there is no opportunity to construct shops and sell positions by occupying space inside the haat.”
After learning about the matter, I have asked the concerned Union Land Assistant Officer to inspect the site and stop the work as well as give a report to my office.
Upazila Executive Officer also claimed,
“Necessary steps will be taken next time.” he added.
