The Cabinet on Monday directed the Environment and Forests Ministry to resubmit the ‘Bangladesh National Conservation Strategy’ after incorporating the current perspectives, achievements and priorities to ensure sustainable development and conservation of national resources.
The directive came from the regular weekly meeting of the Cabinet held at the Bangladesh Secretariat with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said many recent issues were not reflected in the strategy paper.
He said land use plan, urbanisation and urban development, ICT, renewable energy and guidelines on financing the implementation of the proposed strategy need to be incorporated in the strategy.
The Cabinet also reorganised the Cabinet Committee and Expert
Committee on Bangladesh National Conservation Strategy as the committees had been constituted long ago.
The reconstituted expert committee will elicit opinions of various ministries and divisions by April 15, and submit the draft paper after necessary changes and inclusion before the cabinet committee.
The Cabinet also approved a proposal for signing a Memorandum of Association (MoA) with Bimstec member countries to establish its permanent secretariat in Dhaka.
Under the MoA, Bangladesh will provide land for the office building of Bimstec Secretariat and bear the maintenance cost of the secretariat for five years.
Later, the expenses will be funded with the subscriptions of member countries.
It may be mentioned that Bimstec has been renamed as the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation.
Cabinet members, advisers to the Prime Minister, state ministers and secretaries concerned attended the meeting.
Source: UNB Connect
From the TV and other media reports it’s veryy clear that the Ministry of Environment &c goes completely oblivious what’s happeninng in the country on environment. Just this morning the Ekushey TV showed a documentary in which rampant hill cutting is going on on those areas where white clay, essential raw material for porcelain wares, is being randomly cut and loaded away by unscrupulous people linked with the paower party and the administration feigns to be ignorant of it. The Dy. Commissioner just said that he had informed the Ministry concerned but to no effect. This kind of destruction of environment is going on almost everywhere in the country but the doners, God knows for whose benefit, rely on the govt that does precious little in protecting the environment. In fact the environment of this country is being destroyed more by those linked with the power party than by natural calamities. We common people have become just helpless onlookers. God save us!