M Iqbal Hossain

No decision has been taken by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change or the Department of Environment to require registration to visit Saint Martin’s—– said the ministry

No registration will be needed to travel to Saint Martin’s, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change said today ( 5 September).

The ministry issued the clarification debunking media reports that claimed that the government has decided to impose a condition on travellers to the island about registering for a trip there.

In a press statement, the ministry said, “A news item is circulating in various media under the title ‘Need to register to go to Saint Martin’s, which has attracted the attention of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change

“In fact, no decision has been taken by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change or the Department of Environment to require registration to visit St Martin’s.”

The statement also said a seminar was held today in Cox’s Bazar to stop the use of single-use plastic in the country’s only coral island.

In the seminar, there was a detailed discussion with the stakeholders on protecting the environment of Saint Martin’s island.

“The need to start a registration system for going to Saint Martin’s was discussed there, but no decision of the Department of Environment was announced in this regard,” said the environment ministry.

Neither the ministry of the department took any decisions in this regard.

Various media outlets have reported that the interim government has decided to introduce the condition of registration for travelling to the coral island at the seminar.

The media reports stated that the ousted AL had multiple times announced such conditions but never implemented them.