Dhaka: The first meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change of the 13th Jatiya Sangsad was convened at the Cabinet Room of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban. The meeting was chaired by Committee Chairman and Jatiya Sangsad Whip Md GK Gaus.
According to Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha, the meeting saw the participation of committee members, including Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Abdul Awal Mintoo, State Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Sheikh Faridul Islam, and lawmakers Md Zahidul Islam Dhulu, Md Abdul Mannan, and Sultana Jesmin. The session commenced with a recitation from the Holy Quran, followed by introductions from the committee chairman, members, and senior officials from the ministry and committee.
The meeting focused on discussing strategies to control environmental pollution, with a directive to ensure that ministry decisions do not harm the environment. The committee emphasized halting Bangladesh Bank's financing of illegal brick kilns and decided to communicate this through a formal letter. Additionally, the Department of Environment was tasked with compiling a list of all legal and illegal brick kilns nationwide. The committee recommended the adoption of blocks instead of bricks for ongoing government infrastructure projects.
Further instructions were given to present data on the 101 projects under the Climate Change Trust at the committee's next meeting. The committee also requested a report on the expenditure of funds allocated to the ministry over the past 16 years, highlighting the necessity to align with the current government's election manifesto.
The meeting included a detailed review of the spending plan for the ministry's budget for the current fiscal year. Present at the meeting were the Acting Secretary of the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change, additional secretaries, senior officials from the Forest Department and Department of Environment, and concerned senior officials from the Jatiya Sangsad Secretariat.