Businesses at St Martins ready to welcome tourists
No measures yet to control number of tourists visiting the island
Tareque Moretaza
Hotels and resorts owners of the Saint Martins Island have already completed preparation to welcome tourists during the upcoming tourism season which starts from September and continues till March.
But, the government till now has not taken any initiative about the number of tourists visiting the countrys only coral island by putting a cap on how many people can visit it.
Last year, there was a demand for tourism control over the environment and biodiversity crisis, but till date there has been no initiative taken to control the situation.
One of the owners of a residential hotel on Saint Martin Island told the Independent that they have not heard anything about the initiative from the government. He also said that this type of initiative will not be wise as this will destroy the tourism industry.
He said that mainly tourist flock the island seven months of the year but the pick season is from November to February.
Mohammad Siddique a restaurant owner at Saint Martin Island told The Independent, We have started preparations for the tourists. We are hoping that this year the flow of tourist will be more.
Shah Alam, in-charge of a luxury ship Syedabad, which takes tourists from Teknaf to Saint Martin, said that if the weather is good, the ship will start to move from the second week of September.
Earlier, the environment department was thinking about controlling the number of tourists visiting the island. Mohammad Solaiman Haider, director (planning) of the Department of Environment (DoE) and in charge of the island, told The Independent: It would have been good if we could put a stop to tourism there, but that is not possible at the moment. So, the next best option is to limit tourism activities to protect the island. The government is working on this aspect.
Rise in tourism could take its toll on Saint Martins, the only coral reef island of the country. Faced with an environmental crisis, efforts were made to construct brick structures on the initiative of the government. However, the plan did not succeed.
The beauty of the island could diminish forever if steps are not taken immediately, Prof. Syed Rashidul Hasan, tourism researcher and expert, told The Independent recently. Hasan, quoting a study on tourism of Dhaka University Department of Trouism and Hospitality, said the arrival and departure of tourists, that is, the tourism-carrying capacity of the island, have to be calculated. According to government data, around 7,000 people stay on the 8 square kilometre long
St. Martins Island. However, local 6 No. St. Martins Union chairman, Nur Ahmed, claims the population exceeds 10,000.
Under the present circumstances, the island has the capacity to tolerate a maximum of 2,000 tourists a day. Hasan said tourists exceeding this capacity could bring disaster to the tourist destination.
The land area of the island measures 8 square km during low-tide and 5 square km during high-tide. It has three partsthe north, south and the centre, which is known as Golachipa as it resembles a throat. The North side is the most populated.
Tourism-carrying capacity is defined by the World Tourism Organisation as the maximum number of people that may visit a tourist destination at the same time, without causing destruction of the physical, economic, socio-cultural environment and an unacceptable decrease in the quality of visitors satisfaction.
Most of the tourist accommodation units, shopping centre and port are located on the north side. There are some cottages in Golachipa built by the Navy. Only a few people live on this side. Most of the coconut trees and cultivable land are here too. The south side is still a Restricted Access Zone.
During tourism season, six ships carry tourists to the island. Although each of these has the capacity to carry about 1,000 passenger, they take on board around 9,000 to 10,000 tourists in every single trip during the peak season.
The large number of tourists, which is more than the capacity of St. Martins Island, is affecting the islands ecology. Slowly but surely the overload is destroying the coral island.
Rashed-Un-Nabi, professor at the Institute of Marine Sciences and Fisheries, Chittagong University, said in some places of St Martins stones can be found only 10 to 12 feet below. Thus, if so many buildings are constructed on the island, it may develop cracks. Even the layer of stone can be broken, he cautioned.
