Cox’s Bazar Correspondent: Unplanned development and structures built everywhere like a frog’s umbrella are swallowing the country’s only coral-rich island, Saint Martin. Conscious people are expressing concern that the surroundings and biodiversity are being greatly damaged due to unregulated tourist traffic, their ignorance, the construction of unplanned structures, and environmental pollution in the coconut chain surrounded by clear water and coral rocks.
Experts say that even though there is a government ban on building any type of establishment in St. Martin, resorts, hotels, motels, and restaurants are being built one after another in defiance of it. Due to this mismanagement, the environment on the island is gradually deteriorating. It is destroying the island’s algae coral, oysters, snails, sea turtles, red crabs, and other types of aquatic animals. The Cox’s Bazar Development Authority (COAQ) says that strong measures have been taken by the government to stop unplanned construction in St. Martin.
A gazette has also been prepared in coordination with the Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change to ensure that no unmanaged structures can be built on the island. Committee Chairman Commodore Mohammad Nurul Abshar said, “It can be seen from the research that so far there have been many unplanned structures built on Saint Martin Island.
Due to this, the island is slowly falling to the ground. We have issued a gazette in coordination with the Ministry of Environment, the Prime Minister’s Office, and Caucus to prevent any such establishment in the future. He said, “Government institutions will also not set up any kind of establishment in Saint Martin for commercial activities. We have a master plan for Saint Martin. We are thinking about how to establish ourselves in the eco system, and we are also planning how to provide good entertainment for tourists and beautify the island through sustainable development.’ Kouk chairman also said, “I contacted the resort chain of the Maldives.
We will start these activities with technical advice from them. Commodore Mohammad Nurul Abshar said, “It should be controlled if tourists go to St. Martin recklessly.” If the overabundance of tourists makes St. Martin dirty and polluted, after a few years, it will be seen that the beauty of St. Martin has been lost. In addition, sea turtles require a safe place to lay their eggs. Turtles lay their eggs where there is no human presence.
But due to the free movement of tourists, the turtles cannot lay eggs. Likewise, there will be damage to other aquatic, terrestrial, and biological species. So the tourism system in Saint Martin needs to be brought to a bearable level. Work is underway in this regard.
According to various sources, Saint Martin has 68 species of corals, 151 species of algae, 191 species of molluscs or crustaceans, 40 species of crabs, 234 species of marine fish, 5 species of dolphins, 4 species of amphibians, 28 species of reptiles, 120 species of birds, 20 species of mammals, 175 species of plants, and 2 species of bats. Many of these animals are now extinct or on the verge of extinction. This biodiversity is slowly disappearing due to climate change and pollution.
