Ekramul Samrat, Kurigram Correspondent :
The Bhutanese King Zigmey Kheser Namgeal Wangchuk visited the selected place for the Kurigram Economic Zone at Madhabram under the Bhogdanga Union in Kurigram Sadar upazila on Thursday.
The king, along with 14 members, including the queen, Jethsoon Pema, reached Saidpur Airport from Dhaka, and then they reached Kurigram Circuit House by road with tight security.
They reached the economic zone spot at 1.30 p.m. on the same day.
At that time, Information Minister M. A. Arafat, State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Choudhury, MP of Kurigram constituency 2 and 4, Dr. Hamidul Haque Khandoker and Biplab Hasan Palas, respectively, chairman of BEZA Sheikh Yousuf Harun, DC Mohammad Saidul Arif, SP Al Asad Mohammad Mahfujul Islam, and Mayor of Kurigram municipality Kaziul Islam were present, among others.
Later, the king went to Bhurungamari Land Port by road and entered India for Bhutan, leaving Bangladesh.
It was known that in a public meeting held on the grounds of Kurigram Government College in 2015, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced the establishment of an Economic Zone in Kurigram and with the visit of Bhutanese King Zigmey Kheser Namgeal Wangchuk and the declaration of Bhutan’s Special Economic Zone people of the area were seemed estatic.
Earlier, a four-member delegation led by Bhutanese ambassador to Bangladesh Rinchen Kuensil visited the spot on March 10.
The people of Bangladesh, Bhutan, and India will benefit if communication by road, river, railway, and air with Bhutan develops, local elites opined.
It is learned that the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, in a bilateral meeting in London in 2023, proposed to the King and Queen of Bhutan the establishment of a special economic zone in Kurigram. They agreed with the proposal.
Meanwhile, a total of 133.92 acres of khas land at Madhabram mouza under Bhugdanga union on the north-east side of the Dharla Bridge beside Kurigram-Bhurungamari road, 2.5 kilometres from Kurigram Zero point, has been handed over to the Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority (BEZA) by the Kurigram district administration. It is a special opportunity for the government, as most of the land is Khas land.
In addition, more lands are surrounded there, which may be acquired for allocation.
A strict security measure has been taken for the king and queen of Bhutan who visit, as proposed and initiated by the government-to-government (g-to-g) between the two countries.
The people of Kurigram have long awaited job opportunities. On the other hand, some poor people who live on the land said we are living on the land from our forefather and we want compensation.
President of Kurigram Sacheton Nagorik Committee Advocate Ahsan Habib Nilu said immigration should be started in Sonahat Immigration under Bhurungamari upazila in the district to start an economic zone as it will be possible to go to Bhutan in this way.
President of the Kurigram Chamber of Commerce, Abdul Aziz, said that the business system of these regions will be extended afterthe special economic zone is set up here.
