UNB :
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday said Rohingyas have become a huge burden for Bangladesh as there has been no progress yet over their repatriation although three years have elapsed since their massive influx into Bangladesh.
“They’ve become a huge burden for Bangladesh. The environment and forest resources in Cox’s Bazar are getting destroyed,” she said.
The Prime Minister said this when newly-appointed Ambassador of The Netherlands Anne Gerard Van Leeuwen met her at her official residence Ganobhaban.
PM’s press secretary Ihsanul Karim briefed reporters after the meeting.
About the stranded Pakistanis in Bangladesh, the Prime Minister said, “They’re creating economic pressure on us.”
The Ambassador said he has talked to various people, including refugees and NGO activists, and all of them think that the solution to the Rohingya crisis lies there in Myanmar.
Hasina appreciated the contributions of The Netherlands for the development of the country.
She mentioned Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s stance to develop Bangladesh through land reclamation like the Netherlands.
The PM thanked The Netherlands for their cooperation in formulating the Delta Plan 2100.
Hasina said the government is dredging more rivers in the country to preserve water.
She also recalled her visit to the Netherlands and said that she was overwhelmed to see the Green House system to produce and preserve agricultural items. “We are an agri-based country and we can adopt that system,” she said.
About airports, she said the government is upgrading the Cox’s Bazar International Airport to attract more tourists to the longest unbroken sandy sea-beach of the world.
She also mentioned that 100 economic zones are being developed in different parts of the country to invite more domestic and foreign investments.
Dutch Ambassador Anne Gerard Van Leeuwen appreciated the development of Bangladesh under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
He has travelled Bangladesh by air and witnessed the landscape of the country. This landscape has similarities with his own country, he added.
Ambassador-at-Large Mohammad Ziauddin and Principal Secretary Dr Ahmad Kaikaus were present.
