WE would like to tell our leaders that because of their obsessive preoccupation to hurt each other, they have not only impinged on people's basic right to work and commute in safety, but also have paid the least attention to crying problems of national development. The threat posed to our natural food resources, both indigenous fresh water fish and livestock, has been almost criminally sidetracked.

We used to take our plentiful supplies of fresh water fish for granted. But since the Ershad regime, when policymakers short-sightedly encouraged the import of alien species of fish, indigenous varieties have been seriously depleted. Though the alien fish are larger and more protein-rich, they are devouring fish feed and even local fish, many of which are becoming extinct.

Experts at the Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) have launched pilot projects to breed local fish in protective habitats, but the ministry has done nothing to bring this issue into the forefront of the national agenda. Banned alien varieties, such as the African catfish, are still being illegally bred in private hatcheries. Why is the ministry closing its eyes to the harm being done to such a valuable and naturally bestowed resource?

Similarly, the ministry is taking the latent threat from Foot and Mouth Disease most casually. Experts at BAU have disclosed that this highly contagious disease is widespread in cattle here. Normally, meat and dairy products from diseased cattle are not harmful for humans. But outbreaks of the disease have created near-panic situations in Europe where entire herds are being burned to prevent its spread. We would like to know why our authorities are taking this issue so lightly? Does the health of our people count for so little that not even an investigation has been launched to assess the situation?

The Ministry of Agriculture must get its priorities right Jeopardising natural bounties that sustain and nurture human life smacks of callousness and irresponsibility. Unless it wakes up fast to its responsibilities, we will be forced to deal with disasters that are not an act of God, but entirely manmade.