The government has finally chosen Gazipur as the location to set up a World Bank-funded wildlife centre, ending a long-standing disagreement about the project site which had put the centre’s fate in jeopardy.
Forest and Environment Minister Anwar Hussain Manju told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that the government has agreed to set up the proposed wildlife centre as per the project outline which mentioned Gazipur as the location.
“I have sent a letter to the World Bank authority few days ago, confirming this,” he added.
The global lender has also been assured that the Forest Ministry would implement the project on time, Manju said, adding that he was not responsible for the sluggish progress of the project as he had taken charge of the ministry only a few months ago.
Earlier, uncertainties arose about the future of the wildlife centre after top-tier government officials allegedly tried to assert their influence in shifting the proposed site for the centre to their preferred locations. In June, after three years of disagreements, the World Bank reportedly decided to pull the $5m earmarked for the wildlife centre, since the government could not utilise the money on time.
There are also allegations that a five-member committee of the ministry assigned to assess the possible location for the wildlife centre unnecessarily spent government funds during their field visits to Madaripur, Shariatpur, and Mirsharai and Rangunia of Chittagong.