Environmental, Forest and Climate Change Affairs Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan has clarified that tourism on St Martin’s Island was never banned, though the number of tourists has been regulated to protect the island.
She made the remarks on Saturday while addressing an event at the Water Development Board auditorium in Dhaka, organised by Prokriti o Jibon Foundation and Bangladesh River Foundation to mark World Rivers Day and present the “Mark Angelo River Award.”
“Local residents of St Martin’s are not hotel owners. Those leading movements are mostly outside businessmen. St Martin’s doesn’t belong to businesses—it belongs to everyone,” Rizwana said.
The adviser stressed that regulating tourist numbers is part of global best practices to preserve sensitive ecosystems.
“If we can save St Martin’s, tourism will continue. Travel to the island was never banned, only tourist numbers were controlled. The decision to discourage overnight stays on the island was made in 2016 but not enforced. The present government is now implementing it,” she noted.
She criticised vested interests, asking, “Should we hand over our St Martin’s to a handful of ship operators and hotel owners?”
Turning to recent demands for establishing a university in Chalan Beel, Rizwana Hasan expressed astonishment.
“Now they want to build universities in wetlands! How can educated people even propose such a demand or organise movements for it?” she questioned.
Addressing protesters, she said, “Whether the government approves or not is a secondary matter. The bigger question is—can you even propose such a project from an educational institution in the first place?”
LND/SAE
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