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Why this loss?

1 March 2005, 18:00 PM
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
By Md.Habibur Rahman (Res. Asst. WNCSB) East Bashaboo, Dhaka-1214
1 March 2005, 18:00 PM
. PHOTO: AFP
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has cancelled 25 million US dollars of a total amount of 37 million US dollars loan from the Sundarbans Biodiversity Conservation project(Ittefaq, 03.02.05)due to lack of proper implementation and timely progress of the project. On 27 November 1998, ADB sanctioned 37 million US dollars for biodiversity conservation of the largest mangrove forests in the world. "With About three quarters of the loan period elapsed, only about one quarter of the project had been implemented as of end December 2004 and only one quarter of the funds had been disbursed," the ADB said in a statement from its headquarters in the Philippines capital.

After evaluation, the ADB claimed that the Ministry of Forest and Environment failed to show a satisfactory progress of the project within five years. This is an enormous loss for the environment and for the country . As a developing nation, we cannot afford to lose a huge amount of money that is desperately needed to conserve the environment, biodiversity and to ensure sustainability. The withdrawal of funding will have negative impacts on environmental projects, as donor agencies will doubt the capability of Bangladesh to properly implement projects and therefore choose not to donate money. A country like Bangladesh where the main issue is to fight for poverty alleviation is vastly dependent on international donors to run environment related projects.

The people who were involved in the failure of the Sundarbans Biodiversity Conservation project should be held accountable for their mismanagement. The Ministry of Forest and Environment should arrange a press briefing to explain why the fund was withdrawn.

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The Bangladesh Environment Lawyers Association (BELA) should take legal actions against the wrongdoers. Such scrutiny and justice will help to identify the problems that caused the setback and remove them for the implementation of future projects.