"Most of the problems in the three hill districts are related to land dispute. So the government in a bid to settle the land dispute formed the Land Commission in line with the (CHT) peace accord. But we hear that the commission has not done anything in this regard in the last three years," Mosharaf Hossain, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) affairs ministry, told The Daily Star yesterday.

The parliamentary body at its meeting also decided to hold an emergency meeting next week to identify the reasons that held the commission from functioning.

The members of the parliamentary body also proposed a camera meeting in presence of the commission chairman. The committee chairman however is yet to decide about the mode of the special meeting, sources said.

In line with the CHT peace accord, the BNP-led coalition government after assuming office in 2001 formed the Land Commission headed by a former Justice, Mahmudur Rahman.

The committee members at the meeting alleged that the chairman has already had a three- year job extension although the commission is yet to start functioning. The commission chairman does not attend office regularly, but he draws salary, meeting sources said.

The parliament secretariat in a press release after the meeting said the committee expressed dissatisfaction at the performance of the Land Commission and decided to expedite the its activities.

As the land disputes are remaining unsettled, conflicts in the hill districts are increasing by the day, observed the committee members.

The parliamentary body also discussed the prevailing law and order in the hill tracts. The district administration of Bandarban said in a report that the law and order recently worsened because of rising incidents of abduction and criminal activities, meeting sources said.