One project shown by two govt bodies
Two government agencies under different ministries have been "implementing" a project for cultivating Lac, a resinous substance used to make varnish, shellac, sealing wax, etc, without inter-ministerial coordination and documentation.
Bangladesh Forest Department (BFD) launched the Lac cultivation in August 2010 under its bio-diversity conservation and poverty alleviation project. The department has already planted 4,000 Kul trees, where Lac insects are cultivated, another 4,000 Khoyer trees, over 20 acres of land in Kajla area of Rajshahi city. The tree plantation cost BFD Tk 1.36 lakh.
However, Bangladesh Agriculture Research Institute (BARI) has recently erected a signboard describing the site as "Lac Mother Orchard" under one of its sub-project titled "Research and technology generation in Lac as a means towards elevation of productivity and income of the small and marginal farmers".
BARI has obtained Tk 58 lakh from the World Bank for taking Lac research and technology generation project at five sites and it describes the Kajla Lac orchard as one of them.
Debashish Sarker, principal scientific officer of BARI, said BARI had been conducting research activities, and providing training and technologies to farmers on Lac cultivation at the site since the end of 2011.
Asked if BARI could do it without official coordination with BFD, Sarker replied in the negative and defended BARI saying, “Our activities are not creating any problem. Rather it is helping farmers who are cultivating Lac without training and technologies”.
In his reply to the same question, Divisional Forest Officer Ajit Kumar Rudra said it would be illegal for any government agency engaging in any project activity on another agency's project site without official correspondence.
Sree Joshodhon Pramanik, a bird conservationist who also works amateurishly for different environmental projects, pointed out the contrast of two signboards--one of BARI and the other of BFD--at the site Monday and immediately communicated it to BFD officials.
“The two signboards mean two government agencies are implementing the same project by two names, which is impossible and hilarious”, Joshodhon told The Daily Star.
During a visit to the project site, journalists found the BARI signboard was taken down on Tuesday. The signboard was not found erected till yesterday.
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