28 hotels in Saint Martin to be demolished soon

At last, the Department of Environment (DoE) directed  the owners of 28 hotels to demolish their establishments which are illegal at the coral island Saint Martin within May 20.  On April 19 , Assistant Director of DoE in Cox's Bazar Sardar Shariful Islam issued the notice to 28 hotels to demolish the hotels, according to sources.

The hotels are Blue Marine, Fantasy, Obokash Porjatan Limited, Labiba Bilash, Sand Shore, Prashad Peradise, Prince Heaven, Swapno Bilash, Seven Star, Blue Sea, Eastern Resort, Sea In, Dak Banglo, Ocean Blue, Sea View, Sea Probal, CTB and SK Dish.

Sources said, the biodiversity of Bangladesh's lone coral island Saint Martin Island in Cox's Bazar is being disturbed by businesses related to tourism. Thousands of tourists pouring in the island every day.

According to sources, unplanned infrastructures have mushroomed in the island to meet the onrush of tourists. Researchers and environmentalists said high population density, huge illegal infrastructure built in an unplanned manner, destruction of mangrove plants and bushes, collection of sea shells and stones, unplanned development of tourism, arrival of huge number of tourists, and dumping of garbage have been threatening the island.

Meanwhile, District Administration of Cox's Bazar gave written directives to take action against 106 illegal hotels at the coral island Saint Martin as per directives of the High Court on March 16.

Administration of Cox's Bazar and Assistant Deputy Commissioner (ADC) of Cox's Bazar Ehsanul Hyder Murad sent written directives on behalf of the Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Cox's Bazar to the Department of Environment (DoE), Officer in Charge of Teknaf and Chairman of Saint Martin to take action against 106 illegal hotels and save the environment as per directives of the court.

Sources said, the DoE declared the coral island Saint Martin as "Ecologically Critical Area (ECA)" in 1995. The gazette of the government was published on June 29 in 1999 in this regard. As a result, the government directed to stop all construction at the coral island which are without approval of the authorities concerned. As a result, there was no permission to construct any building and establishment at coral island Saint Martin after 1999.

Meanwhile, the High Court directed the district administration and other authorities of the government to evict all construction and establishment from the coral island in 2011 in connection with a writ filed by environment organizations.

Following the directives of the government and order of the High Court there is no option to construct any building and establishment at the coral island Saint Martin.

But, presently, there are hundreds of buildings and establishments at the coral island Saint Martin. The District Administration of Cox's Bazar and other  authorities did not take any action against the illegal buildings and establishments at the island which is hampering the natural environment of the island and sustaining of the area.

Youth Environment Society (YES), an environment organization filed another writ before the High Court urging the directives to save Saint Martin and implement the previous directives of the court in this regard. Meanwhile, the YES also conducted a survey and the team of YES found 106 hotels at the coral island.

Environmentalists said the stock of bio-diversity in the island has almost been exhausted. The coral island Saint Martin is separated from Shah Parir Dwip in Teknaf upazila of the mainland by an 8 km channel. Around 7,500 people live in the 8-square kilometer island.

 A research by the DoE, with the assistance of the UNDP, said that the island has a number of eco-systems, coral rich areas, mangroves, lagoons and stony areas. The island is a safe haven to various species of fauna.

Sources said, the beach of the island is also home to internationally endangered green turtles and olive turtles. The presence of 153 species of sea weeds, 66 species of coral, 187 species of oysters, 240 species of fish, 120 species of birds, 29 species of reptiles and 29 species of mammals were recorded at the St Martin's Island in 2010.

On March 21, the High Court issued rule on contempt of court against 11 persons including four secretaries of ministries, Deputy Commissioner (DC) of Cox's Bazar for their failure to evict the illegal establishments and stopping construction of new establishments at the coral island Saint Martin.

-Nazimuddin Shyamol Back from Cox's Bazar