The first ten kilometers of the Aziznagar to Ghazalia road, which’s construction started in the 80s, will be extended and the construction of the eight kilometer road will be started very soon, said Mosleh Uddin Chowdhury, executive engineer of the Bandarban Roads and Highway Department. Local residents expect the road to be built quickly. If the road is opened, the distance of Lama from Aziz Nagar will be reduced by 17 kilometers, the farmers of ten villages in the area will be economically benefited by getting a fair price for their produce.
Among the 7 unions of Lama Upazila, the most populous union is Shilpa Nagari Aziz Nagar Union. About 19 thousand people live in this area. Residents of Aziz Nagar have to go to Lama Upazila for various official purposes including Cox's Bazar District’s Chakaria Upazila, which is about 46 kilometers away, while the distance of Lama Upazila through Ghazalia Union is only 29 kilometers. The connecting road from Aziz Nagar to Ghazalia in Lama is already 10 km passable, the remaining 8 km road from Naziram Tripura Para to DC Road is brick paved, unpaved road, big potholes and unfit for vehicular traffic. Most recently, it can be seen that due to long-abandonment, the entire road is full of potholes and ditches, making it unfit for vehicle movement. No one knows when the road will open!
As a result, many farmers are using the bridges for threshing and drying rice in the dry season. During the dry season, some motorcycles, three-wheeled Mahindra cars use this road for carrying passengers with great risk.
Marma-Tripura-Bengali, part of Ghazalia Union, from Naziram Tripura Para to DC Road, is home to more than 2,000 people living in 10 villages of about 500 families. All of them are farmers, producing various agricultural products including banana, papaya, vegetables, rice and many more.
Ashai Mong Marma, a resident of Remong member neighborhood of Ghazalia Union, is a 1st year HSC student at Chambi High School and College in Aziz Nagar.
He starts walking from home at eight o'clock every morning and reaches the college in one and a half hours. He appealed to the appropriate authorities to start the construction work of Aziz Nagar to Ghazalia road as soon as possible.
Village Head of Remong Member Para, Mong Mong Marma said that the road construction from Aziz Nagar to Ghazalia DC Road started in 1986-87 but the road was not passable even after 36 years. If the road is reconstructed, the farmers can easily transport their produce to the market and the farmers will benefit economically, about 50-60 students from different neighborhoods will be able to commute to Ghazalia High School.
Village Sardar of Islampur village Sohail Sardar said that he has been hearing for a long time that the Aziz Nagar-Ghazalia road will be opened and rebuilt but no one knows when the road will be constructed. Due to the non-construction of the road, the farmers of 10 villages have to face a lot of problems to transport their produce to the market.
He thinks that the farmer has nothing to pay the wages of the workers in the transportation of agricultural products, the farmer does not get the fair price of the product, so the faster the road is built, the faster the economic development of the farmers of 10 villages will be.Chairman of Aziz Nagar Union, Jasim Uddin Company said that the distance of Chakaria Via Lama from Aziz Nagar is 46 kilometers, while the distance of Lama through Ghazalia is only 25 kilometers. He also informed the Minister of Chittagong Hill Tract Affairs Ministry Bir Bahadur Ushwe Singh. He said that he has directed the Roads and Highways Department to start construction of the Aziz Nagar to Ghazalia Union road as soon as possible.
Ghazalia Union Parishad Chairman Batowai Ching Marma said that the complications related to land acquisition and payment of compensation have been resolved for a long time, Chittagong Hill Tract Affairs Minister Bir Bahadur Ushwe Singh has instructed the Bandarban Roads and Highway Department to start the construction of 8 km road from Ghazalia to Aziznagar. Majority of the people of Ghazalia Union depend on agriculture. He said that from Naziram Tripura Para to DC Road, all 10 villagers are farmers. If the road is opened, the farmers would get fair price for the agricultural products and the students will also benefit from traveling to schools and colleges.Mohammad Mosleh Uddin Chowdhury, Executive Engineer of Bandarban Roads and Highway Department, said that the 18-kilometer road from Aziz Nagar to Ghazalia, which was started in 1986-87, is very important. The first ten km road will be widened and the development project proposal has been sent to the Ministry for construction of the remaining 8 km road, which is in the process of approval. He said that the work will be started soon after getting the approval.
