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Shrimp projects lose Taka 480 crore

Intensive plan to rehabilitate fisheries sector
TEKNAF (Cox’s Bazar). May 28 : "We ruined but want to rise again. Life has to flow and so we look forward to future with hope" . said Syed Ziaul Haq. whose shrimp project has been totally destroyed by the last cyclone and tidal surge.
Mr. Haq's project on the bank of the river Naf, bordering Burma, was built up over the years at a cost of more than Taka two crore.
Talking to a visiting BSS special correspondent, Pulin Bihari Sharma, another shrimp culturist hit by cyclone, said the project which till the other day was my golden hopes and aspirations, stands totally devastated today.”
Dayal Chandra Rajbangshl. President of Bangladesh Fishermen s Federation said, "we can see ray of hope for a new life as the government has assured us about the reconstruction of our shrimp projects, a vital sector of the na-
tional economy."
When asked, the Minister of State for Fisheries and Livestock. Forest and Environment. Abdullah-Al Noman. told BSS, the Ministry had already proposed a Taka-200 crore loan for rebuilding the shattered shrimp projects of the country.
Most of the other shrimp projects under International Development Agency (IDA), Asian Development Bank (ADB) and private sector on more than 32.000 hectares of land In and around Chakaria. Moheskhali. Kutubdla and other offshore belts of Cox's Bazar district had been severely affected by the cyclone and tidal surge.
The calamity washed away shrimp beds, prawn hatchery, embankments and infrastructures of projects causing a total loss of not less than Taka 300 crore, according to an esti-
mate by the officials of Cox's Bazar district.
The shrimp growers and exporters, however, said, the loss would be over Taka 480 crore including Taka 300 crore In the culture sector and Taka 180 crore in the terms of damage to infrastructures.
Explaining various measures being taken by the government to rehabilitate the damaged shrimp projects. Abdullah-Al-Noman said, efforts were under way to reconstruct the embankments, which was a primary task to revitalise the projects.
Mr- Noman said, in Cox's Bazar district alone the government was considering to reconstruct 1500 kilometers of damaged private embankment. Including those of shrimp beds under test relief work, with an involvement of 65,000 tones of wheat The government has already provided 3000 tones of wheat to
start the construction of the embankments of the shrimp projects. More wheat is in the pipelines he added.
Soft-term loan's
Mr. Noman said, his Ministry would suggest soft-term loans for the shrimp cul-turlsts—both the growers and the exporters. He said, the small growers should be’sanctioned immediate loan. "If we could start production within one month, we could recover Taka 200 crore against the loss of Taka 300 crore even during the current harvest. Out of the Taka 1000 crore target of this year's shrimp export. Cox's Bazar's share was fixed at Taka 600 crore.
Mr. Noman said, intensive programmes will be taken up for rehabilitation of the fisheries sector and the small scale fishing families who have no other alternative than fish-
ing for livelihood. He said, more than 250,000 people belonging to 36.000 families were dependent on fishing.
Mr. Noman said, from the experiences of the cyclone-hit people, it was obvious that the traditional earth embankments would no more be dependable.
"We are now considering to construct specially built 30-feet high embankments employing modern technology on the coastal belts so that they could withstand such calamities.
"Twenty million people of the country live in the cyclone-prone region and we Just cannot let these lives at the mercy of the nature", he said adding adequate infrastructures in the from of embankment's and cyclone shelters would be constructed to save the lives and properties in case of such calamitis in future.