SHILLONG: During his visit to Jaintiapur, Bangladesh, Meghalaya Chief Minister, Conrad Sangma has urged the Central Government and the Bangladesh Government to fund the protection and preservation of Jaintiapur, which is a symbol of great history of the tribes of Meghalaya.
In a statement issued here, the Chief Minister said that the MLAs from Jaintia Hills in particular were very happy to visit Jaintiapur and felt privileged to be the first Government delegation to visit the place from the Meghalaya.
“It was a great moment to visit Jaintiapur where the remains of the former ruler were laid to rest. We have only read about Jaintiapur and the Khasi and Jaintia population that settled there and it was an honour to visit the place”, he stated.
The state government has invited the Chambers of Commerce to Shillong considering that Dhaka is three and a half hours away from Meghalaya which will serve as a huge economic advantage.
Another suggestion that came up was a connection between Sylhet and Shillong through bus or airway service in near future and this will be considered through proper consultation with the Central Government of India.
“We see a great opportunity and we are here to ensure that we will create an environment and ecosystem where there is a win-win situation for both our countries”, the statement said.
The CM and his delegation met quite a number of tourists from Bangladesh finishing their paperwork after their visit from nearby tourist locations in Meghalaya while the convoy crossed the border at the immigration gate in the Meghalaya border.
The state government observed that the connection between tour operators, hoteliers and other stakeholders will ensure that traffic is moving both ways and allow citizens of Sylhet to visit Meghalaya and vice versa.
“This exercise is just the beginning, I encourage our tour operators to connect with each other and build the relationship. We are here to open things, to discuss, to initiate and tourism is one sector that will be a good start for our countries”, Sangma said
Making a mention of the coal topic, he said that the government is in the process to find ways in which can ensure the continuity, keeping in mind the environmental concerns, the safety of minors and overall sustainable development.
He said the process was on to ensure that coal mining is done in a scientific manner and things were moving in a positive direction after being stuck for quite a few years due to the issues highlighted because of which it could not be taken forward.
“We have worked hard in the last one and a half years and they have been able to give a specific direction to it and we have worked out phase wise manner on how we can start the coal mining at a certain point which is dependent on the measures that we take which will be worked out similarly for limestone and boulder stone also”, he said.