After many speculations, the government gave good news to tourists in the country’s only coral island, Saint Martin. However, any tourist cannot go there. For that, you will need a travel pass made in the app prepared by the Bangladesh Tourism Board. Meanwhile, the government has formed a 6-member committee to control tourism in St. Martin. At the same time, a guideline has also been given to determine the departure point of ships bound for St. Martin from Cox’s Bazar.
The committee members are Teknaf and Cox’s Bazar Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO), Deputy Director of Environment Department Cox’s Bazar office and one representative each from Tourist Police, Ministry of Civil Aviation and Tourism or Tourism Board, Inland Water Transport Authority and Coast Guard.
Yesterday Tuesday (November 19) in the separate office order signed by Sabrina Rahman, Senior Assistant Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, this instruction was given mentioning the formation of the committee and various guidelines.

The committee’s mandate in the letter is to ensure that prohibited polythene bags and single-use plastic items are not transported by tourists and approved ships. Tourists should keep a register of the hotels they will stay at. Only tourists with travel passes collected from apps prepared by the Bangladesh Tourism Board should ensure travel on approved ships at the entry point of departure. Tourist dos and don’ts should be posted at disembarkation points and entry points to St. Martin.

Confirming the office order, Sabrina Rahman, Senior Assistant Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said, “The government has taken this step to protect the island of St. Martin.”

It is known that Saint Martin, the only coral island in the country, is currently under threat. These threats have been created in the last two eras. The soil, water and air of the nearly three and a half thousand year old island are becoming toxic. As a result of these hazards caused by unregulated tourists, the island’s temperature is at least 3 degrees Celsius higher than other parts of the country.

These data have emerged in a study published in a science journal called Environmental Advance on April 15. According to the study, due to tourism, there have been many dangers including high temperature as well as increase in salinity, deforestation, pollution, rise in sea level, destruction of turtle habitat, use of plastic, shortage of fresh water, tidal erosion. The island has a local population of 10,000, but hundreds of thousands of tourists stay there throughout the year.

Experts also blame unplanned tourism for St. Martin’s current situation. According to them, the crisis is intensifying due to unregulated behavior of seasonal tourists and environmentally destructive entertainment. In the past era, the government took three measures to control tourism to protect the island. But the government withdrew from that position under the pressure of tourism traders.

St. Maarten’s last tourist control measures were taken in August 2020 to protect its biodiversity. The research agency Center for Geographical Information Services (CEGIS) was commissioned by the government to conduct a survey. After the research, the organization said that it would not be right to allow tourists to stay overnight on the island. It is not appropriate to allow more than 1,250 tourists a day during the tourist season in winter.

Malik Fida Abdullah, executive director of CEGIS, told the media, “Our and other studies have proven time and again that there is no alternative to tourism control to protect the island.” The government should not back down due to the pressure of tourism traders and other reasons.

According to the Department of Environment, the Department of Environment declared St. Martin an Environmentally Critical Area (ECA) in 1999 to protect biodiversity. Last on January 4, 2023, according to the Wildlife (Conservation and Security) Act, the Ministry of Environment declared 1,743 square kilometers of Bay of Bengal adjacent to St. Martin as a protected area.

Syeda Rizwana Hasan, adviser on environment, forest and climate change, said, “We want to save the island. It is everyone’s wealth. If tourists behave responsibly, the wealth of the country will be saved.