Bangladesh’s State Minister for Environment and Forests urged Bangladeshis to vote for Sundarban
Bangladesh’s State Minister for Environment and Forests, Hon. Dr. Hasan Mahmud requested all Bangladeshis to vote for keeping Sundarban in UNESCO’s final list of Worlds’ new seven wonders.
On 3 May 2011, Dr Mahmud, accompanied by the Pro-vice Chancellor of BUET, the Director of Environment and other Government Officials attended in an informal discussion with Non-resident Bangladeshis (NRB) in Canberra. Here he said, in reply to a question from the audience, that Non-resident Bangladeshis can help Bangladesh by voting for Sundarban, which offers splendid opportunities for tourism industries. Sundarban is selected one of ‘seven wonders of the world’. H.E. the High Commissioner Lieutenant General Masud Uddin Chowdhury and his staff also accompanied the Hon. Minister in the community discussion.
Responding to the audience, the Minister said that Climate Change is a reality in Bangladesh, which is facing severe problem from frequent flooding, sea level rising, river pollution, salinity, arsenic contamination and so on. He assured that the Government of Bangladesh, with cooperation of regional and international counterparts, is working tirelessly to battle against environmental problems in Bangladesh. He admitted that Bangladesh has the toughest environmental law but the weakest implementation.
Answering to a question raised by Arara Kar, a young Australia born Bangladeshi who recently visited Dhaka, the Minister promised him that the overall environment in Bangladesh would be close to that in Australia by the next 15-20 years.
On behalf of NRB in Canberra, Mr Kamrul Ahsan, the Coordinator of BEN Australia, thanked the Minster for exchanging his views on environmental issues in Bangladesh and sharing his Government’s policies with the Bangladesh Community in Canberra.
