Staff Correspondent:

Buyers can no longer purchase government land at nominal rates and have to pay fair prices, said Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed told reporters at the Secretariat on Tuesday.

At a meeting on Tuesday, a proposal was made for transferring ownership of a 55-acre government land in Chattogram to the Bangladesh Army for establishing a weapons factory at a nominal cost of Tk17 crore.

However, the government purchase committee rejected the proposal at the meeting. The fair price of the land has been set around Tk111 crore.

The finance adviser told reporters that none other than the Army would get the land as army officials submitted the first application in this regard. But, they have to pay fair price, Salehuddin noted.

Many a time, a 100-acre land is sought when only 10 acres of land is needed.

Nominal cost of land encourages needless use and waste of property, he said adding that fair prices must be paid for ensuring responsible use of land and overall transparency in the purchasing process.