Rangamati, June 14: Five years after a peace treaty was signed in Bangladesh's southeastern hill tracts region, security concerns remain but the UN is seeking to help tribes people who hope peace is round the corner. "The hill tracts is a sufficiently safe area for starting development activities although there are a few pockets one has to be cautious about," Michael Heyn of the united nations Development Programme (UNDP) told today in this southeastern hill district.
"The security situation would be constantly monitored and daily reports kept, but the main issue is that development will bring about a change in the situation," he said.
Asked about the conflict between pro- and anti-peace pact groups, Heyn said "we have talked to all sides and they agree that development comes first, which is very encouraging.
"I think we have a partnership and we will involve young people from the hamlets and once the development starts I hope and expect life will improve then," he said.
He said criminality in the hills was much lower than in other Bangladeshi districts.
Heyn was speaking as the UN agency opened its office in Rangamati today to launch a one-year development plan costing five million dollars.
Of that amount, UNDP will provide two million dollars and the rest is expected to come from Australia and the United States.
A peace pact was signed in 1997 ending more than two decades of an insurgency that killed 2,500 people, according to official figures.
Bureau Report