‘Rohingyas damage forest worth Tk 151 crore in Cox’s Bazar’
The parliamentary standing committee on forest and environment today revealed a report that the Rohingya people who have entered Bangladesh from Myanmar damaged forest properties in Cox's Bazar area worth Tk 151 crore.
"We are informed that the Rohingya people damaged forest worth Tk 151 crore by cutting trees," Hasan Mahmud, chief of the Jatiya Sangsad body, told reporters emerging from a meeting held at the Jatiya Sangsad Complex this afternoon.
Terming the environmental damage as an irreparable loss, Mahmud said the entire environment in Cox's Bazar area has been damaged severely due to the influx of Rohingyas since August 25.
In this backdrop, the Jatiya Sangsad body asked the forest ministry to find out ways how to minimise the adverse impact on the environment caused by the Rohingya refugees.
Mahmud said millions of tonnes of woods are being used by the Rohingya refugees for their cooking purpose each day.
"We have asked the ministry to ensure energy friendly cooking system at the Rohingya camp so that they do not destroy trees", he also said.
Hasan, also a lawmaker of the ruling Awami League, said the government has given shelter to Rohingya refugees on humanitarian ground. "But we cannot allow them to destroy our environment," he added.
Mahmud said the roadside beauty of Teknaf has already been destroyed. Alongside, the internal and external tourism flow centring Cox's Bazar sea beach will be destroyed if the loss is not minimized in the coming days.
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