Representatives from wood collectors (bawali), golpata harvesters, honey and beeswax collectors (moual) and fishermen communities in the Sundarbans, country's only mangrove forest, have demanded immediate reintroduction of 'permit card' to them for collecting raw materials from the forest.
They also demanded that the government would take immediate steps to remove outsiders and non-professionals from the forest, provide similar wage and seasonal allowance for them like other professions, introduce loan on easier term and stop corruption by the employees of forest department.
Sources said the government cancelled the permission to collect materials from the Sundarbans after it was hard hit by Sidr.
The representatives said this at a press conference at the National Press Club in the city yesterday, adding that they have been leading a miserable life as the government has imposed a ban on collecting the materials from the Sundarbans.
“Some of the collectors have already left the traditional profession of collecting honey or golpata from the forest and now switched to some other professions,” said Rafiqul Islam, who used to collected honey from the Sundarbans, now he pulls a rickshaw in Dhaka.
The speakers alleged that taking the chance from the exiting weak forest law and taking help from the corrupt employees of forest department, a quarter is trying to collect materials from the forest on commercial basis.
This trend is ruining the ecological balance of the forest, they said, adding that the government would take necessary steps immediately to save their professions and way of living.
Meer Kamruzzaman Bachhu, a raw material collector, read out a written speech at the conference while Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (Bela) Director Syeda Rizwana Hasan, BARSIK Executive Director Sukanta Sen and Let Us Progress Executive Director Devebrato Sarker took part in the programme.