RMP to reduce poverty of 1.35 lakh haor people

The project titled 'Sunamganj Community Based Resources Management Project' (SCBRMP) launched in June 2003 is expected to complete in June 2014. It has the target to free the landless poor and small and marginal farmers from poverty at a cost of Tk 236 crore.

The project is funded jointly by the government and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), a specialised agency of the United Nations.

Director of the project Sheikh Mohsin told BSS that the goal of the SCBRMP is to improve the livelihood of the poor through increasing assets, establishing institutional community framework, generating employment by imparting training on different skills and capital formation by regular savings and microcredit.

SCBRMP has so far been implementing five major components-labour intensive infrastructure development, fisheries development, agriculture and livestock development, micro-finance services and institutional development.

Under the infrastructure development, a total of 51 village roads measuring a total length of 65 kms and 13 village multipurpose centres have been constructed and 500 tube-wells have been installed as the hardcore poor could get better facilities to access to markets, schools and hospitals and safe drinking water.

Under the fisheries development components, 93 beels (water bodies) measuring around 2571 acres have been transferred to the project by the Ministries of Land and Youth and Sports of which 55 beels have been transferred to the fisheries community.