BANGLADESH appears to be moving at a snail's pace in exploring the bonanza laid open by the two consecutive maritime verdicts. Projects undertaken to estimate fishery and other resources in the deep sea, expansion of international trade route and its preparations for exploring oil and gas have been noticebly slow and to some extent disorganised.

So far as oil and gas are concerned, Myanmar has already begun exploring its own blocks by conducting a number of seismic surveys and discovered three large gas fields on its side. In fact, the relatively most potential blocks within our maritime boundaries are adjacent to each other. According to geologists, underground resources do not follow any geographical boundaries. That being so, Bangladesh needs to expedite the process of exploring its own oil and gas blocks. The government is believed to have begun a holistic preparation to avail itself of the resources from the bay, but it appears to fall short of a steady and systematic approach.

We urge the government to fast-track the process of exploration, because we are in a race with time.

In the case of procuring a small vessel for estimating fish resources, the authority concerned better train up personnel to operate it when it arrives by March-April next year, so that it does not sit idle.