Shawdesh Desk:

Bangladesh Fisheries and Livestock Minister SM Rezaul Karim on Thursday asked the deputy commissioners to take steps to curb adulteration of animal feed.

“The deputy commissioners have been asked to take steps in preventing animal feed adulteration and the use of the existing fishing nets,” the Minister told reporters after attending the DC Conference in Dhaka.

“We have asked the deputy commissioners to monitor the production of fisheries and livestock products and its marketing management directly and indirectly,” he said.

They were also requested to take steps to implement the different projects of the government “as no one can misuse the money allocated for the same”, said Rezaul.

“A revolutionary change has been brought in the country in producing fish, meat, milk and eggs. Bangladesh achieved the third position in fish production. We have taken steps to produce the extinct fish species through artificial ways,” he said.

Mentioning the proposal of the DCs, the Minister said, “The DCs have placed a proposal of marking vessels with a symbol in the coastal areas of the Bay of Bengal and we have assured them of following the same.”

Talking about providing licences to small river vessels, the Minister said that “there is no provision in this regard”.

On allegations of discrimination in the distribution of relief materials during the fishing ban, Rezaul said, “The government has provided assistance through VGF (vulnerable group feeding) programme and cash disbursements. We have updated the cards of fishermen and it’s a continuous process.”

“The DCs and local administrations have been asked to get involved in the process to check irregularities at the district level.”