Local Government, Rural Development (LGRD) and Cooperatives Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan gave the assurance when a five-member team led by UNDP Resident Representative Jorgen Lissner called on him at his Secretariat office yesterday.

He told them that poverty is the basic problem in the CHT and asked the UNDP to take up various employment-generation programmes. He also asked them to take up educational and infrastructure development programmes in the region.

A delegation from the UNDP headquarters is now in city to visit the CHT to review the state of the project styled, "Promotion of Development and Confidence Building in CHT".

Initially, the UNDP will implement the one-year project at a cost of $2 million and on its completion, the UNDP plans to take up another five-year project in the hills region, sources said.

Bhuiyan told reporters the UNDP sought government protection for smooth implementation of the project as it had been suspended due to terrorist act in the CHT.

He said the UNDP thinks it would be able to implement the project with government support across the CHT excepting one thana in Khagrachhari district. Bhuiyan said the government will cooperate with the UNDP to set up its office in CHT.

"We will assist the UNDP so that the UN body can implement the project without any hindrance," he added.

Bhuiyan, who is also the chairman of the cabinet committee on the implementation of CHT peace agreement, informed the UNDP delegation about the current state of the agreement and said a number of provisions of the peace deal was implemented during the previous regime and many others were executed in past two years of the incumbent one.

He said there are some complex issues which might take long to implement. "It is not at all possible to implement the entire agreement overnight, but we keep the process on for gradual implementation of the agreement," Bhuiyan told the UNDP delegates.

Talking to the reporters after the hour-long meeting, the UNDP resident representative said they discussed the project, CHT agreement and local government issues.

About the implementation of the peace agreement, Lissner observed the process is going on slow and steady and in the right direction. There have been some achievements regarding implementation of the agreement and the government initiatives seem to have expedited the implementation process, he added.