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Dhaka Diary
Nobody has any idea as to what the government – this government or any past government, for that matter – thinks about river pollution. Or silting up of the rivers. Or illegal occupation of riverbanks anywhere, including Sadarghat and Keraniganj. Or establishment of a brickfield on the riverbank or inside the marshy land as could be seen anywhere while driving through Ashulia,
writes Sayed Kamaluddin
Unbridled pollution choking rivers
All rivers in and around the capital city of Dhaka and the nearby industrial belt such as Tongi, Gazipur, Narayanganj, Kanchpur and Savar are dying because of unchecked pollution. A visit to old town and Sadarghat and a casual stroll along the river Buriganga and a few others nearby should prove how true the statement is. The water in most of these rivers has turned greenish and foul smelling at places because of continuous discharge of polluted wastewaters from all kinds of factories located in the area. It has not happened in a day, or a month or even a year but decades of unchecked industrialisation – numbering well over 3,000 by some estimate – and apathetic attitude of the authorities concerned.
These industrial units include – apart from the tanneries in Hazaribagh and the most polluting ones – various chemicals, metals, rubber, pharmaceuticals, cement, pulp, paperboards, fertiliser, food processing and petroleum refining have defied the mandatory term for setting up effluent treatment plants as a safeguard against pollution. Now they seem to have no intention of doing so anytime soon. According to a water expert, those industrial units are discharging at least 1.3 million cubic metres of wastewater into the rivers every day and the quantity is increasing by the day. One will have a rough idea about the enormity of the problem if it is compared with daily discharge of household wastewater, which is about 0.5 million cubic metres per day. Suggestions for banning the establishment of any brickfield within 200 metres of a river are now gathering dust in the offices concerned.
A number of illegal industrials units are also functioning everywhere, but the number of such units is much less compared to those established with due government permission. The callousness of the officials of agencies concerned whose job it is to check that all legal provisions mentioned in the permission letter are properly implemented is primarily responsible for this. As a result, they became the sources of river pollution. Besides, the unchecked efforts of the unscrupulous businessmen and land grabbing developers to encroach on the riverbanks and fill up all available marshy lands around Dhaka, which for generations acted as the natural outlets of water during rainy season, have also contributed to the problem. The mushroom growth of brickfields all around to meet the demand of a booming construction industry also went unchecked. This was possible because the perpetrators had acquired the necessary political clout and heavily bribed the officials and others to overlook these activities.
The immediate result of these unchecked illegal activities including illogically unplanned construction of buildings – big or small – all over the capital city and in its suburbs is that in times of even moderate rain the city roads become waterlogged because the excess rainy water has nowhere to go. All the natural outlets for the rainwater – including the once famous Dolai Khal having direct links with several rivers in the area – have been closed by indiscriminate construction of unplanned buildings and filling up of low and marshy lands in the vicinity. All remedial attempts by local and global experts and numerous agencies through countless meetings, conferences and seminars from time to time discussing the gravity of the problem and adopting resolutions so far ended in whimpers. Why? Because successive governments paid not only lip service to the issue but also formed numerous committees of experts with widespread media coverage to attend to the burning problem. However, apparently they also ensured through their inertia and apathy that these committees are not properly activated and are sent into the safety of cold storage instead. Meanwhile, the perpetrators who kept acquiring more political and related muscles continued their job with impunity.
Navigability reduced alarmingly
The problem of the rivers is not confined to pollution and encroachment of riverbanks in Dhaka and elsewhere. The government agencies’ apathy towards doing their jobs well has proved to be quite a contagious virus which has quickly spread and taken its toll in all other agencies concerned with the river system. As a result, the navigability of all the river channels across the country on major routes has reduced drastically – from 28,000 kilometres in 1971 to between 4,000 and 6,000 kilometres, depending on which estimate one accepts – during the dry season at present. This is adversely affecting the movement of cargo vessels and also partially the passenger steamers.
Recently, a number of water transport operators – launch owners, cargo vessel owners, and ship builders – at a joint press briefing in Dhaka highlighted their problems. AKM Mahmudur Rahman, president of the Bangladesh Cargo Vessel Owners Association, who also owns a major shipbuilding company, said: ‘River traffic across the country is facing severe blockages as navigability on major routes has declined.’ According to him, operation of vessels carrying fuel oils, food grains, fertilisers, building materials and many other goods to all corners of the country was becoming difficult on most routes.
Movement of cargo across the country through the river vessels is the cheapest mode of transportation and despite immense improvement in the country’s roads and highway system businessmen give first preference to carry their goods through river crafts. The gradual shrinkage of the major river navigation routes because of silt deposits on the riverbed, river erosion, occupation of riverbank by businessmen with the help of armed musclemen are affecting the business of the cargo vessel owners about which they have clearly voiced their observation. But the shrinkage of navigability on the major river routes is not only harming the business interest of the cargo vessel operators, but the national economy is also facing tremendous difficulty in coping with this preventable change.
The major river routes connect Dhaka and Chittagong with the northern districts and Sylhet regions. These river routes need regular dredging for maintaining the usual depth of the river for the larger vessels to use them without any fear of running aground. River experts say that the river system that reach Bangladesh through the Nepalese and Indian territories carry several billion tons of silts into the country and help deposit a substantial part of it on the riverbeds of Bangladesh before draining into the Bay of Bengal. Nobody can do anything about this predicament. The onrushing water from the high mountainous regions of Nepal and India get mixed with large quantity of silt and as it reaches the plains of Bangladesh, it slows down and it keep depositing part of the silt it carried with it on the bed of Bangladeshi rivers till reaching the Bay of Bengal. Large-scale deforestation in the mountainous region in Nepal and in parts of India actually adds to the accumulation of silt problem. The only way to solve the problem, the experts say, is through regular dredging of riverbed and which is expensive.
Problem with dredging
The ship builders, the owners of cargo vessels and launches all had one demand: ‘The government should procure a number of dredgers and start massive dredging operation immediately.’ Prior to announcing their main demand, they blamed successive governments for turning a blind eye to the gravity of the problem for years while the rivers were drying up. Experts say that about 50 million cubic feet of silt are required to be dredged annually to maintain the proper navigability of the major routes. To do the job, a total of 85 dredgers of some capacity are required, they say.
Now in contrast, the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority is said to own seven smaller dredgers with a total capacity to dredge 2.6 million cubic feet. And two of the BIWTA’s dredgers are out of order. So the only answer that the aggrieved party, i.e. the owners of cargo vessels and launches, suggest is to approach major donors to help the country out of this problem. But there also lies problem. For example, the cargo vessel and launch owners complained: ‘Foreign donors (had) offered dredging sets but the governments in the past decade did neither respond to the proposal nor make arrangements for import of dredgers.’
This may be an important issue as far as the launch, cargo vessel owners and ship builders are concerned. But there are other problems, perhaps much basic in nature. For example, what is the government’s attitude towards the river-related issues? Nobody has any idea as to what the government – this government or any past government, for that matter – thinks about river pollution. Or silting up of the rivers. Or illegal occupation of riverbanks anywhere, including Sadarghat and Keraniganj. Or establishment of a brickfield on the riverbank or inside the marshy land as could be seen anywhere while driving through Ashulia.
According to Professor Nazrul Islam, chairman of the University Grants Commission, the government formed as many as 38 river-related bodies headed by import government officials. What happens is that whenever a nagging river-related problem comes to the government’s notice, a committee is formed immediately apparently to set the ball rolling and nobody knows to which direction the ball should be set to roll. Professor Islam, however, has a suggestion to offer, which he mentioned at a recent discussion meeting. He said instead of having as many as 38 committees (and some more likely to be formed in case another problem crops up meanwhile), the government should establish one powerful authority to deal with such problem. This could be called river protection authority or by some such name with enough power to deal with anyone who violates the rule without referring to any other government agency. Let the government ponder and come up with a concrete decision – if it has a mind to do something.
China-bashing is a blind man’s game
Obviously, the Beijing Olympics are attracting the world’s attention but one has to put this sporting event in its proper place. Despite all the excitement and passion about the 2008 Games, one should keep in mind that they are a very small chapter of what is arguably the most significant story of our time, China’s renaissance, writes David Gosset
FOR the global village, China’s renewal is a source of economic growth, a factor of stability and an invitation to explore new ideas. In fact, through countless material or intellectual Silk Roads, an unprecedented intensity of exchanges between China and the world is already taking the global system to another level. Businesses, governments’ priorities and academic institutions have been transformed by this complex but promising process.
However, some fail to grasp the big picture, and for them, China’s re-emergence generates anxiety. This explains partly why nervousness is a recurring element of the Sino-Western relationship. In the midst of a phase of tension, one has to draw the attention to what really matters and to show the ways which can lead to a more serene climate.
Recently, China and the overseas Chinese had to respond to various forms of attack. Those, mainly in the West, whose aim was to damage China’s reputation and to disrupt the preparation of the Beijing Olympics are now largely discredited and relatively marginalised. They wanted to weaken China, they gave her an occasion to show her solidity, her resolve and sense of responsibility.
Unfortunately, they have created a situation where too much mistrust, resentment and confusion remain. This takes the energies away from what should be Washington, Brussels and Beijing’s strategic goal: a cooperative and constructive Sino-Western relationship, keystone of the 21st century global order. Clarity, measure and purpose can help dissipate the clouds.
Negative comments on the Chinese world often reflect Western ignorance of a different context, its globally positive socio-economic transformation – including in Tibet and in Xinjiang – and, for some of its parts, its modernity. And, when a CNN commentator calls the Chinese ‘goons and thugs’ and says that the products manufactured in China are ‘junk’, or when the new mayor of London writes that ‘Chinese cultural influence is virtually nil, and unlikely to increase’, ignorance becomes foolishness.
But the Western ‘China-bashing’ is also highly counterproductive. Anti-Chinese rhetoric or behaviours can only generate anti-Western attitudes within China. While Beijing and the West need to join forces to solve the immediate environmental, political and economic problems threatening global equilibrium, irresponsible activists and politicians are taking the risk to ignite new sterile antagonisms. There would be no winner in such a confrontational configuration.
Western officials have also to realise that by their harsh, accusatory and unfair criticisms, they reinforce China’s most conservative forces. The Chinese reformers working for the deepening of Deng Xiaoping’s ‘Reform and Opening-up’ need constructive and subtle international partners, not arrogant foreign demagogues manipulating issues for their own domestic and short-term political gains.
Moreover, and over the longer term, inaccurate reports or insulting remarks by Western commentators undermine the West’s intellectual and moral credibility. It is the emulation between rich and nuanced analyses, and not new forms of opposition between dogmatic statements, which can enrich the debate.
What can be done to overcome the current difficulties facing the Sino-Western relationship? Several elements have to be considered. Some are recommendations that can have almost immediate effects, some are principles for the foundation of a cooperative future between China and the West.
Obviously, the Beijing Olympics are attracting the world’s attention but one has to put this sporting event in its proper place. Despite all the excitement and passion about the 2008 Games, one should keep in mind that they are a very small chapter of what is arguably the most significant story of our time, China’s renaissance. By putting the Games in perspective all the parties can more easily stay within the limits of reason, the main parameter of a strong Sino-Western relationship.
One cannot expect China, the US and the European Union to agree on everything, and one should be ready to accept differences and even tensions between the three poles. If properly managed, tensions do not have to lead to conflicts, but can conduct to adjustments and improvement.
Some in Washington and Brussels have not yet fully realised that China is a mature and sophisticated sovereign entity able to discern and defend its best interests. Excessive paternalism or a mere superiority complex can even lead to the assumption that one can dictate its policies to China. During the 19th and the first half of the 20th century, a declining Chinese world yielded to foreign imperial ambitions. The leadership of the post-1949 China will not replay this episode of humiliation. In the 21st century, Brussels and Washington can formulate advice or suggestions on issues connected with the Chinese world, but certainly not unilaterally impose their views on China. Beijing and the West, as co-architects of the world order, have to learn to co-decide. Through dialogue and negotiation, they can reach this goal.
In March, riots in Tibet legitimately caused concern. Everything has to be done to avoid the repetition of such tragic events. However, problems in Tibet are China’s internal affairs – the Dalai Lama is not asking for Tibet’s independence. A constructive way to help Tibet’s modernisation would be for Western companies to invest in the autonomous region (Corporate Social Responsibility should not be only the object of academic discussions in business schools), and for Western institutions to conceive, in coordination with the Chinese authorities, genuine cooperation projects (modest but concrete actions are more effective than grandiloquent speeches and spectacular communication). But Chinese and Western efforts to bring development in Tibet will have to be articulated with the adaptation of a Buddhist society to the changes induced by socio-economic modernisation.
Media have, among other things, the responsibility to introduce China’s transformation to the Western world. Journalists have to be open to the Chinese world’s significant developments. Often they fail to do that. The relatively limited coverage of the new dynamics between Beijing and Taipei is a good illustration of this incomplete reporting. On March 22, Ma Ying-Jeou was elected president of Taiwan. A rapprochement between Beijing and Taipei followed. On April 12, China’s President Hu Jintao met Taiwanese vice-president-elect Vincent Siew in Boao, on Hainan island. On April 29, Lien Chan, the ruling Kuomintang party’s honorary chairman, met with Hu Jintao in Beijing. These encounters pave the way for the intensification of the economic links between Taiwan and the continent and boost Greater China’s dynamism. Western populations deserve to be adequately informed on changes of this importance.
The current French administration did choose to lead the protest against what it framed as China’s crackdown in Tibet. In March, Bernard Kouchner, the French minister for foreign affairs, declared that the European Union should consider the idea of boycotting the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. It was a mistake. In general, this French government did not follow what Hubert Vedrine, former French minister for foreign affairs, recommended in his Report for the French President on France and Globalisation (September 2007). ‘More modesty on this point [human rights] would more conform with the reality and would not weaken our concrete efforts to support human rights.’
In July, Paris will take over the rotating presidency of the European Union. This presidency has to serve the vision of a positive triangulation between Brussels, Washington and Beijing. In November 2007, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said to the Chinese news agency, Xinhua: ‘My ambition is to make 2008 a great Euro-Chinese year.’ This is a laudable project that has to be implemented.
China will, of course, greatly determine the quality of the Sino-Western relationship. Under current circumstances, Chinese society should remember that tranquil confidence is a very effective tool to neutralise all kind of provocative agitations. The Chinese people have also to know that there are large segments of the West that welcome China’s renaissance and comprehend its contribution to the world.
In August, Beijing, and also Qingdao, Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenyang, Qinhuangdao and Hong Kong, will organise what could be one of the most successful Summer Games. They will manage to do so not because the Chinese people will be forced to stage a propagandistic display but because they will take great pride and pleasure in contributing to the success of a global event. Those who are still calling for the boycott of a part, or even the totality, of such an event are only making a demonstration of their ignorance or short-sightedness.
The Games of the 29th Olympiad, and in two years, the Shanghai World Expo, are two events that illustrate a more fundamental reality: China’s renaissance offers to the world as much as the world brings to China. Sterile and bitter confrontation will not stop creative Sino-Western synergy.
The Asia Time/HK Online, May 7, 2008. David Gosset is director of the Academia Sinica Europaea at China Europe International Business School, Shanghai, and founder of the Euro-China Forum. In September 2008, the 7th Euro-China Forum will take place in Kiev, Ukraine. The opinions expressed in this article engage neither the Academia Sinica Europaea nor the Euro-China Forum.
Nargis devastation in Myanmar
Myanmar is one of our closest neighbours, but we have had no meaningful interaction with Burma for many years.
However, in these difficult days following the devastation of cyclone Nargis, we cannot just stand by and offer platitudes. With our vast experience in facing similar disasters we should be in Myanmar helping them out in this time of their greatest need.
AA
On e-mail
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I wonder why the Myanmar government is overlooking the situation at hand. It is emergency for god’s sake. The government should first lift restrictions on visas to foreign nationals and allow them to visit the country. This will allow foreign agencies to give help where it is due. Turning down international help could have serious repercussions for the scale of disaster is just immense. The main need at the moment is shelter, food, clean water, drugs and mosquito nets.
Mahmood Zaman
Dhaka, via SMS
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India and China are the biggest beneficiary of the military regime in Myanmar. India and China must help Myanmar without hesitation.
Shoma Alam Ara
USA
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Of course, every country should send food, water, and monetary aid as soon as possible. Every measure should be taken to make sure these supplies go to the people who are in dire need of aid, but you can never be certain.
Regardless, it is our duty as human beings to help those in need, despite what their government may have done in the past.
Zubair
Banani, Dhaka
Stop bio-fuel nonsense
The new trend of Western countries is the ‘ethanol fuel’ which is one of the most main reasons of global grain price hike. It is the new hypocrisy of the Bush administration. Why is not the WFP not creating any concern among the nations to stop this nonsense?
Sabrina Shabnam
On e-mail
No new gas connections in Ctg
What can one expect? Years of corruption in the Bakhrabad Gas Field, years of looting the resources of the country by the bigwigs who are now hiding abroad with their ill-gotten money. Years of total anarchy in this important sector has finally resulted in the inevitable.
As we sow so shall we reap!
Imtiyaz Husain
Gulshan, Dhaka
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