A meaningful selection is now crucial: RizOtana

December 10, 2025
‘A meaningful election is a very important step now. Elections will be held in February. We believe that people from all walks of life will participate in this,’ said Saida Rizwana Hasan, Advisor to the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Water Resources, highlighting the importance of ensuring justice for victims of political violence.’
He said these things in the speech of the chief guest of the biennial general meeting of Friends of the Earth International held at BRAC CDM in Savar on Wednesday (December 10).
85 representatives of 62 countries are participating in this 11-day international conference.
He said reforms are going on in the administrative and legal structure of Bangladesh but the continuation of the tangible and political stability is essential to bring real change.
"We are bringing the change in administration and legal frameworks, but a country that ranks 179th out of 180 countries in the Environment Index cannot reach 50th in a year—it is not possible overnight."
He said, if Bangladesh works consistently for 5 to 7 years and the position is close to 73, then the next elected government can take action on that basis.
The advisor said that the current government has inherited a system by breaking the system. The first task was to make it minimally effective and then the change we started, the goal is far away, but the important steps have been taken and they have to continue under the political government.
In the wake of recent legal advances, he said two groundbreaking laws have already been passed in forest conservation, which have prohibited new interference in natural forests, and also recognizes the forest-dependent population. The Wetland Conservation Act will also be passed soon.
toward the current environment of reality The advisor said, "Savar has already been identified as an environmentally impaired area. Bangladesh has been at the top of the global index of environmental pollution for many years. It is not possible to change it in a year but it is not possible to change the corrective measures."
He also said that such degraded areas are being identified and rehabilitated.
The workers will not be unemployed; they will be involved in agricultural work in the new designated location, he said, adding that the area polluting brick kilns and other units are being transferred after completing the legal and administrative process.
He said, improving urban environment and increasing transparency of government institutions is no longer at the very bottom of the environment index. Communication between the government and the citizen has made it easier to get information and the field of opinion and participation has expanded.