It should stop the use of agricultural soil in brick kilns to protect the environment
The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoFECC), Bangladesh, has held a meeting with the District Administrators to control the pollution of brick kilns, stop illegal brick kilns and prevent the use of plastic and polythene. On Monday (January 16, 2023) held the meeting in the Ministry’s meeting room.
District administrators of 64 districts joined the meeting virtually. At the meeting, Farhina Ahmed, Secretary of MOFECC, said, “It should stop using agricultural soil in brick kilns and destroying agricultural land to ensure the country’s food security.
Strict legal action should take against the illegal and environmentally polluting brick kilns, including the ban on cutting down trees and burning wood as fuel for brick kilns.”
Meanwhile, she instructed the concerned to take necessary steps to ensure the use of 100% environment-friendly block bricks in all government works by 2025 as per the target announced by the government.
In the meeting, the authority decided to strengthen the regular enforcement and mobile court activities conducted by the Department of Environment and the District Administration to stop the production and use of polythene shopping bags and the marketing of the wrappers, which the government has banned.
The meeting also decided to take the necessary initiatives to implement the solid Waste Management Rules, 2021, to manage solid waste properly.
In addition, the meeting instructed to implement the three-year action plan to stop the use of single-use plastic in 40 Upazilas of 12 districts of the coastal region on an urgent basis.
Also, in the meeting, the officials of the Ministry, the directorate, and the district commissioners expressed their views on taking effective measures to stop illegal brick kilns and plastic polythene.
They requested to solve some existing problems and update relevant laws and regulations. Khalilur Rahman, President of the Bangladesh Brick Kiln Owners’ Association, gave a speech highlighting the various problems of brick kilns and promising to comply with the relevant regulations.
(Translated by Md Mekail Ahmed)
