Do justice to the “Champions of the Earth” award

We congratulate PM Hasina for winning the “Champions of the Earth” award in recognition of Bangladesh's far-reaching initiatives to address climate change. We hope the PM will make sincere efforts to tackle the disastrous environmental conditions of our country.

Bangladesh's Constitution was amended in 2011 to include a constitutional directive to the State to protect environmental and natural resources for current and future generations, along with wetlands and wildlife. But these directives remained only on paper; the actual picture is the opposite. 

When the people of the whole country are protesting the building of Rampal Power Plant and South Asian human rights activists are urging the government to suspend construction of that plant near the Sundarbans as it will wreak havoc, the government is paying no heed. Referring to PM's winning the "Champions of the Earth" award, Prof. Anu Muhammad said, "The award would become a burden for her if this project goes on, destroying the Sundarbans." Therefore, the PM should do justice to the award and stop building that power plant.

Nur Jahan, Chittagong