The environmental scientists are warning all the nations of the world about the impending disaster the earth is going to face due to the effects of the global warming generated by fossil fuel burning. The fossil fuels represent a portion of energy given out by the sun over millions of years and trapped in the form of carbonaceous fuels deep under the surface of the earth. The excessive use of the carbon fuels for industrial revolution is releasing the same energy to the environ and heating the atmosphere far above the limit set by the mother nature for the survival of all the life on earth. The higher life forms will definitely be impacted if this rise of temperature is not stopped within a very short period of time.
   More disastrous immediate effect of the warming process will be the melting of ice in the two Polar Regions in a very short period as forecasted by almost all scientists. Already the ice in the Polar Regions has started to melt in a very rapid rate and the polar cap is disappearing. The polar region contains a vast amount of sea water converted to ice sheets, several thousand feet thick, formed in the ice ages. Vast amount of sea water was withdrawn from the ocean in the form of ice over thousands of years lowering the sea level to the present one. If the same ice melts the ocean level will rise again to the sea level of thousands of years back.
   All the old and new great centres of civilisations of the world developed near the river banks or the sea. There is no doubt that all the low-lying areas of Bangladesh will go under the Bay of Bengal in the coming years if there is no halt in the global warming process with the adoption of corrective measures by all the industrialised nations. Unfortunately, all the countries with surface elevation of few metres will suffer most.
   Many cities of the world, including Kolkata, Mumbai, Madras, Dubai, Bahrain, Kuwait, London, New York and Tokyo, will be inundated in future. So Bangladesh alone will not be hit by the rise in the sea level. The world must try to solve the problem by reversing the global warming process. The use of fossil fuels is going to be restricted. The use of wind and solar power will be increased in future. The carbonaceous fuels will be used for the production of non-fuel products like fertilisers and plastics and hydrogen fuels by the existing or new chemical processes. The industrialised nations will do this for their own survival.
   Bangladesh should start preparing now on for all the worst scenarios of the global warming process. It is no doubt that a few feet rise of sea level will make many areas inhabitable. Almost half of the year there will be a vast inland sea making all the present mode of transport very difficult to maintain. The city of Dhaka will be in peril as it will be partially inundated for most of the year. The port city of Chittagong may be cut off from the rest of the country for most of the year making all business impossible. The food production will naturally decrease to an alarming extent making survival of the vast majority of the people impossible. These are the effects if the rise is only a few feet. However, if the rise of sea level is 25 metres then there should be no Bangladesh at all. If the rise of sea level is only a few feet many of the achievements of Bangladesh will be under water.
   Bangladesh should urgently project its future plight to the world community if nothing is done immediately to stem the process of world warming process.
   Dr M Fakhrul Islam
   Rajshahi University

As many around the world are happy about Sheikh Hasina’s release on parole, it seems that the government has begun to give in to the pressure already. The government’s honest effort to bring politicians, who are allegedly corrupt, to trial is at stake after the recent development. If Sheikh Hasina’s pending trials remain unresolved, which is likely to be the case, people will lose trust on the caretaker government for wasting 18 months in the name of ‘reform’.  Many questions are raised by the good citizens of the country such as: is Hasina really coming back to face the pending trials? Is the government showing leniency towards the Awami League and ‘playing tough’ against the BNP? Is the government creating a situation in which the Awami League may get an upper hand in the electoral contest against the BNP to come to power? Why was Hasina received/greeted by the high commissioners/ ambassadors abroad? Why are Khaleda Zia and her sons not being released on the same principle as Hasina’s? Is the government trying to keep the BNP out of the next election and/or instigating the party to initiate street movement? There seems to be no consistency in the government’s position as to what they wanted to do 18 months ago and what they are doing these days. However, what is becoming obvious is that the general people are fast losing their patience and is not likely to remain being held hostage like this for a long time.
   Tanvir
   Texas, USA

While foreign adviser Iftekhar sends out mildly worded letters of reprimand to foreign missions whenever there are loud outcries in the media about the interference of foreign ambassadors and lower ranking officers of the foreign missions in the internal affairs of the country, it is common knowledge that this government of advisers gets most of its advice from abroad. The recently revived extra-judicial killing spree must also be as per directives from think tanks which make their game plans thousands of miles away, where Bangladeshi human beings look like chess pieces, to be removed at will, if that fits the latest strategy. I have had the opportunity of talking to policemen, army men and RAB officers and found all of them to be normal people with feelings very similar to mine about most matters. It has made me wonder how they can carry out these illegal summary executions without trial. The man who was behind most of the extrajudicial killings during the last elected government now appears in court with a plaster of Paris support around his neck, though I think it is most unlikely he will ever be sent to the gallows for his crimes. If his present-day counterparts feel safe enough in getting their support from distant lands, for the time being, can they be really sure that the backing would last long enough, or that some kind of poetic justice would not come into action somehow, and make matters a bit more even-handed, in the long run?
   Bazlur Rahman
   Dhaka

My goodness me! Elahi has, for the zillionth time, told us that the USA is finished, that the game is up for America, and it’s only a question of time before the Star Spangled Banner no longer flutters over the White House!
   I can’t think why he is doing this. Why is he pontificating ad absurdum, over his self-imposed misery? For misery it is, Elahi, because Canada, to where you have scurried in order to escape the penury of life in Bangladesh, is but a colony of the USA. It is a boring redoubt, one that pledges allegiance to Her Majesty, yet is but an economic vassal of its mighty southern neighbour.
   If therefore your preposterous propositions are correct, Elahi, I believe your economic analyses are as flawed as are your hypotheses concerning the current election in your southern master, then you have no choice but to emigrate yet again, this time to the peoples’ paradise of China. There’s no future in being an immigrant in a colony of a colony of China! You might as well join the party!
   I wish you well in your new home, Mahmood. Yet I fear I may never read your eloquent lines again. Your most recently adopted paradise doesn’t take kindly to freedom of speech, and might not exhibit the tolerance of even the reviled Mr Bush. I’m told that life in Chinese ‘correction and re-education’ centres isn’t all fun and games…
   And therein might lay a few problems for you. Don’t worry, I’ll not forget your dreams, and always remember, Elahi, it takes more than facile economic arguments to subvert a vibrant and prospering democracy.
   Murphy
   England

That local government elections (four city corporations and nine municipalities) are going to be held on August 4 is a step in the right direction. The two major political parties — the Awami League and the BNP— appear to be against the polls but we cannot afford to bear any further delay regarding holding of the local polls (particularly, upazila elections). If there are doubts as to whether the caretaker government is planning to run their ‘hand-picked’ candidates in these polls, then holding of the local government elections will, in effect, act as a signal to the people as to whether the polls were held in a farcical manner or not.
   The simple point is that the two major parties feel reluctant to hold the local polls as they fear that their influence in the field level will be lost. The fact that they have not held upazila elections for more than 15 years and that the MPs had the final say in local matters, are sufficient reasons to believe that when elected, these parties are unlikely to hold upazila elections. In other words, the lawmakers will once again continue to wield their influence in upazilas and continue to plunder national wealth by constructing un-finished bridges, taking bribes from contractors, awarding tenders on the basis of nepotism and favouritism. We cannot afford to let that happen. In addition, the terms of the five city corporations have also expired which in itself is a logical reason to hold the polls to city corporations right now.
   Wasif Wahed
   Old DOHS, Dhaka

For years we have been providing urea at a throwaway price. As a result of which no technology was put in place for more efficient
   use of urea.
   A study indicates that as per our present practice of use of urea in our fields, when we put three tons of urea into the fields only one ton is actually used by the plants. The rest is lost as it is washed out into the water bodies or effervescence into the atmosphere. This loss could have been minimised if we had advanced technology in place like using urea super granules or mega granules in our rice fields.
   Furthermore, because of availability of cheap urea we are not using the other types of fertilisers, namely phosphorus and potash, in the proportion needed. The ideal ratio for nitrogen to phosphorus to potash, the three main types of fertilisers, required for our fields is 4:2:1 which is not maintained in our present-day agriculture practice.
   We are also using urea for non-agriculture uses like fattening of cattle and even for dubious purposes like making of puffed rice.
   AA
   Via e-mail

The people of Bangladesh have been suffering from lack of electricity for the last few years. Power distribution lines have been expanded to cover more consumers but production of electricity did not increase. The main reason behind this is corruption.
   Power sector was under government control. Recently, large-scale investment from private sector was encouraged. But it did not solve the problem for various reasons.
   In the context of our country, this problem can easily be solved by micro enterprise or micro investment. For the success of that strategy, all types of taxes on the import and sale of generators below the capacity of 10 mega watts must be fixed at zero per cent. Banks should allow loans without mortgage for purchasing generators below 10 mw. This will create employment for the youth. They will be able to invest in small area-wise power production and distribution business. Low-priced electricity will strongly assist the boost-up of cottage industry in the rural areas. Owners of these micro power plants will need employees for maintenance. In a small area, each household will be their customer and they will negotiate the price. The city corporation or the municipality will ensure the standard of service by regular inspection.
   This way the suffering of the people from power shortage will decrease significantly. These investors should be exempted from income tax and vat for the first five years.
   Md Abdus Salam
   Mohammadpur, Dhaka

We will never move forward as a nation until or unless every single razakar still living amongst us, including those who until very recently occupied seats of power, are brought to justice. I understand that ‘to forgive is divine’ but we do need a fresh start very badly and the only plausible way we can continue our journey as a nation is to make these people face the music which they thoroughly deserve. We cannot live with this wound in our hearts any longer. The genocide of the Bengali people in 1971 is officially ranked second only to the Nazi Holocaust of the Jews during World War II. How can we pass another day without batting an eyelid?
   It is never too late to get our acts together and close this chapter in our nation’s history as there are many other pressing issues at hand. The caretaker government has the golden opportunity to do what the AL, BNP and JP governments failed to do. Will common sense prevail?
   This quotation by Bruno Jasienski just happened to spring to mind while I was writing this letter: ‘Do not fear your enemies. The worst they can do is kill you. Do not fear your friends. At worst, they may betray you. Fear those who do not care; they neither kill nor betray, but betrayal and murder exist because of their silent consent’.
   Yamin Ibrahim
   Dhanmondi, Dhaka

Sharply rising prices have created a great problem this year in Asia and in other developing countries, so much so that they may be unable to feed their poorest people. Even in Canada, officials say some products have doubled in price compared to five years back. The probability exists for famine for millions of people in under-developed and even in developed countries.
   For the last few months, it has been a burning issue in the world, with most cereal exporting countries rethinking their policies and this is bad news for big rice customers like Bangladesh and some other countries. Vietnam, the world’s second-largest rice exporter after Thailand, will reduce its rice exports and not sign any more export contracts. India is also controlling their exports to Bangladesh in order to feed their own people. India is a good neighbour of Bangladesh but a much bigger country. Our people are very concerned with this change of policy on rice exporting. Oil and gold price increases are also causing great concern. Social scientists report that because a considerable number of people are becoming rich in India and China, they are now consuming more foods, buying more gold and burning more fuels. In recent years, many countries changed their agriculture production due to market demand, growing corn rather than soybeans. Another important concern is that of climate change influencing such environmental parameters as rainfall, sunshine, global temperature and so on. Agriculture scientists need to increase their research regarding crop production and environmental stress.
   Nuclear energy production can be very dangerous for people as well as animals. In recent years scientists have searched for an alternative renewable energy source like ethanol. Finally, they have succeeded in producing ethanol from food sources. In Brazil, they have produced the so-called bio-ethanol from whole sugarcane but in North America it’s produced from corn. Sugarcane is only produced in tropical and subtropical climates. But this has affected the world market price for sugar and food grains. When you are walking by a street, you may see a vehicle that has the symbol ‘E 80’ on it. This means they are using 20 per cent ethanol instead of gasoline. For the time being we won’t know what will happen for several years — the results of emissions of unknown gases from those vehicles.
   An international anti-poverty organisation, ActionAid, is working on this subject to determine the degree of this ensuing crisis. Millions of people have already been affected. I think the only solution, although it’s not feasible because it is not socially accepted, is that the affluent people of the world reduce their consumption by 30 per cent.
   Hasan M Fida, Dr Eng.
   Dalhousie University, Canada

The Feedback by Mohammad Shahidul Islam (June 25) under the above heading has drawn my attention. Islam explained well the economics of the industry.
   However, I would like to refer to the last part of his letter where he wrote ‘The government’s plan for changing Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation (BPC) into National Tourism Authority (NTA) could revolutionise the tourism scenario in the country’.
   Well, his wish can only be true if the government can allow this new body to discharge freely the following responsibilities without any intervention from any quarter:
   i. Long-term tourism planning at national and regional/local levels.
   ii. Creating a competitive business environment that avoids inflationary taxation, guarantees transparency, and offers more attractive corporate ownership rules.
   iii. Ensuring that quality statistics and information feed into policy and decision-making process.
   iv. Bringing new professionalism, funding and co-ordination into promotion and marketing, employment and training needs, infrastructure and regional/local policy.
   v. Developing the human capital required for T&T growth. The government should lead investment in human resources – through education and by bridging the gap between authorities and the industry – to help plan ahead for future needs. An online and easily accessible market-monitoring network could link reliable tourism market information with data on employment.
   vi. Liberalising trade, transport and communications and easing barriers to travel and to investments.
   vii. Confidence building for customers and investors on safety and security.
   viii. Promoting product diversification that spreads demand.
   ix. Planning sustainable tourism expansion in keeping with cultures and character.
   x. Investing in technological advances to facilitate safe and efficient T&T development, such as satellite navigation system.
   xi. Expanding markets while promoting and protecting natural resources, local heritage and lifestyles.
   xii. Developing careers, education, employment relations, promoting smaller firms, raising environmental awareness and helping in its own way to narrow the gap between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’.
   xiii. Sensitive provision of traditional tourism products and imaginative products diversification that reduce seasonality and increase yields.
   xiv. Improving the quality of tourism products and services, and adding value for money while increasing consumer choice.
   xv. Agreeing and implementing quality standards at all levels and in all areas, including staff training.
   xvi. Transfer of industry skills and best practice that spreads the benefits and efficiency.
   xvii. Increasingly sophisticated and more precise measurement of the sector’s own activity into strategic business decisions.
   xviii. Communicating more effectively with the world in which it operates — including energetic input from T&T umbrella organisations to government, at strategic and local levels.
   We have to remember also that to successfully undertake the above responsibilities, we require to hire educated and experienced people from the industry itself.
   If required we will need to look beyond the boundaries of our country to find the right people for the right jobs. Under no circumstances we should compromise on this respect.
   Hasan Mansur
   President, Tour Operators Association of Bangladesh (TOAB) & Chairman,
   The Guide Tours Ltd