PM starts 3.0m saplings plantation programme for martyrs

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has inaugurated the 3.0 million saplings plantation programme to pay tributes to 3.0 million martyrs of the country's Liberation War.

The Prime Minister on Wednesday started the plantation programme on the occasion of 'National Tree Plantation Campaign and Tree Fair' by planting a Chatim sapling on the BCCI compound.

Sheikh Hasina also laid emphasis on increasing the use of jute-made products giving up plastic-made ones as plastic now has become a great threat to the environment globally.

"Plastic has become a huge problem for the world; plastic causes pollution. Sometimes we saw it blocks the drainage system and also canals. Wherever there is plastic, you'll find problem there," she said.

The Prime Minister said this while speaking at the function held at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC).

Stressing the importance of increasing the use of jute-made products, Sheikh Hasina said the government has taken numerous programmes to bring back the golden days of jute and its products.

She mentioned that scientists have already invented a jute-made biodegradable poly bag called 'Sonali Bag', a jute-made ploy bag which is biodegradable and environment-friendly one.

Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporations, a wing of the Ministry of Jute and Textiles, is producing Sonali Bag as a substitute for the polythene bag, which is harmful to the environment and human health.

"We can use it as the substitute of poly bags," she said adding that jute-made small bags can be used increasingly, reports UNB.

Fashionable bags are now produced from jute, Hasina said pointing at the handbag she was carrying. "This was also made of jute."

The Prime Minister went on saying, "New jute-made goods have ushered in huge potentials for Bangladesh as the pollution issue has come up globally."

Hasina said Bangladesh is a jute-producing country and its diversified use can be beneficial for the country both environmentally and economically.

"We can export, we can save money; jute is an environment-friendly item," she said.

The Prime Minister also urged all to go for reusing plastic products or refuse it totally as protection of the environment is very much important.

Hasina said the government has taken plans for housing, industry and economic zones so that the environment could be kept intact.

"We've taken the steps so that we could protect the environment properly," she said.

The Prime Minister said the monitoring and enforcement of the Department of Environment has been strengthened.

To make the Department stronger, she said the government has already created 468 new posts in addition to the existing 267 posts.

Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud, Deputy Minister Abdullah Al Islam Jakob, Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Environment, Forest and Climate Change Ministry Dr Hasan Mahmud and secretary Abdullah Al Mohsin Chowdhury, among others, spoke on the occasion.

The theme of this year's World Environment Day is 'beat the plastic pollution' with the slogan- If you can't reuse it, refuse it.

This year's theme for the National Tree Plantation Campaign and Tree Fair is 'Live in Green, Protect the Green and Decorate the City-life-Environment'.

Earlier, the Prime Minister handed over Bangabandhu Award for Wildlife Conservation, National Environment Award and Prime Minister's National Award for Tree Plantation at the event.

She also inaugurated the National Environment Fair and National Tree Fair 2018 at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar and visited different stalls at the fair.