Stop building eco-park
The concept of eco-park might have been exported to Bangladesh by some donor countries or agencies to give us foreign loan and in return we have to pay them back a heavy rate of interest on that loan, consultancy fees, equipment and machinery purchase from those countries in the name of so called development work for their own benefit and profit.
According to Chamber's Dictionary, the word ecology means study of plants, or of animals or of people and institution related to environment.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. We wonder if the US has an eco-park for its Red Indians, Australia for its aborigines, India for its indigenous people in Nagaland, Mizoram or Tripura.
Whether they have any or not , it does not matter. We do not need any eco-park in our country.
This is because ours is a very small country in area but it is densely populated. We do not have plenty of land for our own living, cultivation, forestry and various socio-economic and development activities. Moreover, Bangladesh is a paragon of beauty full of panoramic scene and scenarios, varieties of flowers, colourful people, birds, animals and fishes and what not? Bangladesh itself is a big natural park. We do not need any separate eco-park.
It is reported that out of 36,000 acres of Tangail Modhupur forest, 7,800 acres have already been acquired for rubber cultivation and 2,500 acres have gone into illegal occupation causing untold sufferings to the Garo indigenous people who inhabit the area for generations. The forest department now controls only 9,000 acres of which 3,500 acres of Sal forest has been earmarked for promotion of eco-tourism restricting the movement of the Garo people and limiting their access to land and forest resources.
We condemn the tragic death of Garo tribesman Piran in police firing on January 3, 2004. He protested against the construction of a concrete boundary wall for the eco-park. We demand of the government to look after the family members of the deceased and to pay adequate compensation to his wife and child.
We also urge the government to do away with the unnecessary eco-park project.