St Martin's Island
Master plan soon, restriction on new structures
Staff Correspondent
The government yesterday decided to formulate a master plan for development and protection of bio-diversity of country's lone coral reef island, St. Martin's Island.An inter-ministerial meeting held at the conference room of LGRD and Co-operative ministry took the decision yesterday. The meeting also decided to build some establishments to promote tourism in the island, a meeting source said. The meeting decided to remove the illegal establishments, including the dry fish market and slums as part of beautification of the island. "Very soon we are going to formulate the master plan and implement it. From now on, no one will be allowed to build structures in the island without permission of the environment and forest ministry," State Minister for Environment and Forest Jafrul Islam Chowdhury told The Daily Star. The government will also ban fishing around the island. Environment and forest and civil aviation and tourism ministries would jointly implement the master plan with the help of the LGRD and Cooperative ministry, the minister said. Jafrul Islam Chowdhury said that they would take legal actions against the polluters of the island. "No buildings higher than the coconut trees will be allowed in the island," said a source present in the meeting. LGRD and Cooperative Minister Abdul Mannan Bhuiyan was the chief guest of the meeting that was chaired by the State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Mir Mohammed Nasir Uddin. The St. Martin's Island lying 17 kilometres off Tekanf, comprises four islands -- Narikel Zinzira, Dakhinpara, Galachira and Charadia. With a population of 5,700, the St. Martin's Island has been subjected to environmental degradation due to unplanned establishments developed over the years to cater for the tourists, said the meeting source quoting the experts as saying. The experts believe nearly five endangered species of marine turtles including Green, Olive Ridley, Hawksbill and Leatherback lay eggs in the 835.80-acre island. But constant human intervention poses threats not only to the turtle population but to the live coral of the island. Environment and Forest Minister Tariqul Islam will visit the St. Martin's Island at the end of this month.
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