Her toilet is better than her house and his toilet is complete though he has not a leg

Minoti Ranidoes not belong to the rich category as per the wealth ranking prepared by the community through a participatory community situation analysis. Actually she is from a disadvantaged community in Nalita Bari Pouroshava under Sherpur district in Bangladesh. Minoti Rani is dependent on her own income she earns from pottery. She makes clay pot and show-pieces and sells it in the local market. The small income that she earns from it is barely enough to live a decent life. But, she has never given up the trial of changing her condition in which she has been living for last 32 years. She keeps her eyes opened always to add additional value to her life. Coincidentally, the GOB-UNICEF project came forward with the hardware and software support for the low-income communities in Nalita Bari Pourashava. The project did a lot of community mobilization activities to make people aware of using safe water, safe sanitation and hygiene practice. Software support covered all the population living in the project area while hardware support went only to the households who met the project’s criteria. One of the supports from the project is to provide a latrine for each 3-5 households who are poor as per the community wealth ranking. Though Minoti Raini is poor, she did not get this latrine because she has no other households with whom she can share it as per the rules of the project. The project regretted but she did not lose her hope. When she understood she will not get the toilet she decided to build a toilet from her own resource. The small amount that she has been putting aside from her saving in each month for last few years she spent to build a latrine. And she did that. Her toilet is decent, well maintained and beautiful. Minoti Rani proudly said, “my toilet is better than the toilets you (she meant the project) gave to my neighbours”. I admitted that. I looked at her house and took a photograph of her with the house. I found her toilet is better than her house!!

 Noormohammad lost his leg long before in a road accident. Now, he sits in a small shop and earns 100-150 taka daily. With this little earning he is somehow managing his five members’ family. Noormohammad had a dream of a decent life with his wife and children which did not come true because of his disability. But, still he goes on trying. He does not want to surrender his fortune to his disability. He always looks for the opportunity. Opportunity comes sometimes but because of the societal process of exclusion he misses it also. The GOB-UNICEF project at Nalita Bari was also an opportunity for Noormohammad. But, like Minoti Rani, Noor Mohammad has also missed it. He applied for latrine but finally he finally did not get as his relation with the ward councillor was not good!? Noormohammad become critically aware after understanding the faecal-oral transmission route ( F diagram) in a hygiene session. He decided to have a latrine anyhow. Being refused by the project, he decided to construct it from his own cost. He found his saving is not enough to build a quality latrine. He borrowed an amount from one of his relatives who works in garments in Dhaka. Finally his dream came true. He constructed a latrine which costs tk 7000. He keeps the key of the toilet tied with his waist. I called him to show me the latrine. He opened the lock. I found it clean and well-maintained. Noormohammad has widen his smile in his whole face with prud and told, “sir, it is not from the project, I built it with my own cost”. I told, “congratulation chacha,(uncle), this is why I have come to see you” Anybody will blame that the project has not addressed the equity in this case. It is true. We will have to look into that. At the same time I will be going on appreciating the inner power of the people: people like Minoti and Noormohammad. (This case is documented by Md. Firoj Alam, Program Officer, WASH, UNICEF)

Water Act 2010: Whose benifit counts ?

Md. Firoj Alam


Land, air, water and sun are the most essential elements for life. In absence of one of these elements life is just impossible on the earth. All other living entities in this planet gratefully enjoy this gift of the nature. But, we the human being want to grab it for personal interest. Grabbing something absolutely for self interest we often cause deprivation for others. By this time individuals’ ownership has got established on land. Now, the major part of the land in every country is in the hands of a small number of people. What is next to grab? It is water. Conflict over water is not new at all. May be later the air and the sun will also go to the personal possession and the common will have to purchase it for their existence as we need to buy now a piece of land in an inflated price from the rich land-owners to have a shelter for living. Money has created an inequitable world. Anything with which money is involved always goes under the control of rich people. The poor can still take their breath, can have a bath in the river, and can warm their body in the sun because in some extent it is still out of the monetary system.
Now- a- days water is often treated as an item of goods. With a positive intention, I guess, to make people understand about the value of water, it is compared to the goods and price has been imposed on it. The good intention is now turning into a bad practice. Evaluating the life-essential things with money and intention of regulating these types of things by imposing price is just dangerous. In such case there is every possibility to go these kind of life essential elements to the wrong hands. Greed spines round the money.
Recently, WARPO (Water Resource Planning Organization), an attached department of Ministry of Water Resources has drafted a set of laws to regulate water resources in this country. It is known as Water act 2010. It is in draft form now and presented to the Minister for Water Resources on the last week of May with a claim that it is a good law and prepared after reviewing the good existing laws and policies within the country and across the globe. To make it a law, within 15 days started from 22nd May 2011, this document will be reviewed by different committees and will be sent to the cabinet for approval to pass it in the parliament.
I have gone through the document and what I have found is dangerous. The worries with what I have started my article are all there. To protect water, licensing is coming as an obligation for the users in the laws. We all know who are the people in our society can have the license? The water bodies in the North Eastern part of the country have gone to the rich and powerful people of the country because of the leasing system. The fisher folk who grew up by swimming in those water bodies, whose ancestors lived in it hundreds of years, who share their umbilical cord with it, now prohibited to enter into these water bodies. Same is happening in the forest areas in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Sunder bans and Modhupur and other forest areas. The forest people have no access in the forest. The “permit” holders are now reigning over the forest and having all the benefits. Same thing will happen if this law comes into force. Even to fish in the river or in the see a license will be required? These licensing systems in the name of protection of water resources, the gift of the nature on which the common people are depending for their living and livelihood will be made restricted? I think it will jeopardize all our efforts to ensure food security even.
Reading the Water Act 2010 (draft) I got an impression that these acts are to protect misuse of our water. However, it has ignored the actual purpose - - the issue of right. For example, the purpose of water distribution ( Page 14) as it is mentioned there; is to use it in the household, municipality, fish farming, wildlife, irrigation, power generation, etc. The list has been extended long and gone up to the item called re-creation. It has missed the spirit of keeping the human being above all of everything. To ensure the equitable distribution of water for each and every citizen for their living and livelihood should be the purpose of the water distribution, not merely the water related activities as mentioned. I think living and livelihood cover all the aspects mentioned in the document and it keeps the equity issue in the center to protect it by law.
In a chapter, it is mentioned that the ownership of all water lies with the state. This statement is absolutely fine for the advanced states where state is equivocally meant for the people. But, for the country like ours’ do not mean that. Here sate means the people in power. I think we are yet to be in such ideal situation. It should rather be replaced directly by the word “people”, means the owners of the water (and other resources) is its people. This sprit should be established by the law. We all know who gets benefit from the state- owned resources and properties. I am sure; it is not the poor and powerless section of the population.
In the name of “good faith” an opportunity to exploit water resources has been kept for the water dealing organizations. In Page 38, it is mentioned that on any installations on good faith this type of organizations can continue their ownership by paying compensation. Imagine now whose purpose is going to be served by these types of law.
It seems that these laws are going to be framed to protect the companies/ organizations. For violation of the water laws, punishment is heavier for the individuals than the companies/ organization. For an individual it is maximum five years jail and Tk 500,000 in fines or both for misusing water, while an organization can violate water law by facing only financial penalty. To me it is like having the right to violate law by paying money!
We feel that government has not made these kind of mistakes innocently. There is every reason for doubt that a cunning interested group is hidden behind this with a motive to appear little later and take control over the water resources of the country as soon as it is approved as law.
We have heard that it is still with the review committees of which DG, WARPO is the head. I think it should be stopped there right now. To prepare such types of law arrange for a public hearing, listen to the people and expert and then do something. We should keep it in mind that it is water which we are going to deal with the laws. It is no less than life. This law should not be framed such a way that it protects the interest only of the rich who are just a small portion of the population of this country.

This article also published un the Daily Star, link
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=189961

Recharging Dhaka's Ground Water

Md. Firoj Alam

Water table recharges through a natural process. It occurs as rain and surface water percolates down through the natural filter constitute of fine-grained soil to join with the ground water on an impervious layer. When a balance between this recharging and extraction is maintained, the ground water aquifer remains static. But it falls down when the extraction rate become higher than the rate of recharging. We can understand it only when our tube-wells cannot reach to the ground water level and fail to discharge any water. Desertification is the ultimate affect of the water table depletion. As we are predominantly depended on the ground water for our domestic, agricultural, and industrial use, we face water scarcity if the ground water table is depleted.

The ground water table of Dhaka city is falling down at an alarming rate. In last six years, the water aquifer of this city has gone at least 20 meters down: 3.3 meters per year. No doubt that the increasing gap between extraction and recharging is dipping the water level down.

The water table of this city is falling down because of withdrawing excessive water without keeping the scope for recharging. The issue of excessive withdrawal of the ground water is always being discussed and people are more or less aware about it. While people are almost ignorant and indifferent at the same time about the issue of recharging ground water. And consequently the general people, even the government are continuously obstructing the recharging process.

Let me shed some lights on this very crucial issue.

Dhaka is a city of 13 million people. To accomplish the demand of this huge numbers of population, DWASA alone is extracting about 1500 million liters of water from the ground every day against its actual demand 2000 million liters. The rest of the demand is being fulfilled through the private initiatives which is also ground water based. But due to the lacking of recharging, a deficient situation is always prevailing in the water table. Our lacking of awareness about this issue is making the problem critical day by day.

As I have told at the beginning that the surface and ground water percolates down through the soil to join with the water table. Therefore, exposure of the soil to the water is a must in the recharging process. But the entire part of the soil surface of this city is blocked with the buildings, metal roads, tiles and plastics that prevent the water to be soaked by soil allowing it to be run off. As a result, despite having the significant amount of rain fall [206 cm/year], the water table is failing to be arisen up. We the city dwellers have taken the subversive attempt by covering each and every inches of our land with cemented blocks.

Again, water bodies have an important role on the ground water table. Water from the water bodies continuously seeps into the ground. It is unfortunate that all of the water bodies inside and outside of the Dhaka city are being filled up and covered with the buildings. Many real estate companies are desperately filling up all of the water bodies situated at the periphery of the city. The earth filling extravaganza of some housing companies/ project like Basundhara, Basumoti, Modhumoti, Jamuna etc is alarming us that all water bodies near the city will be finished within the few years which will be a cause of the ground water exhaustion.

Even the rivers are drying out. The volume of water in the Buriganga, Turag, Kaliganga, Shitalakshya is decreasing relentlessly. The encroachers are desperately grabbing these rivers. We often see the activity of reclaiming Buriganga from the encroacher. But, recently I have seen that the Shitalakshya, are being openly violated by some greedy people. Near the Kanchpure bridge almost a quarter of this river has been cordoned with the sand bags disrupting the water flow. Such encroachment of the adjacent rivers on the one hand, and the pollution on the other hand has created pressure on the ground water of the Dhaka from the two angles: [1] the low water in the rivers is causing the low recharge of the water table and [2] people are becoming depended more and more on the ground water giving up their previous practice of use of the river water. In the decades of 1980's we might have seen that many people on the both sides of the Buriganga are using its water for bathing and washing. Now this scene is rare.

Our lifestyle is also creating a significant pressure on the water of this city. We are extravagant in water use. Through the conservative use we can downsize the quantity of daily water need. For example, most of us have the habit of keeping our tap running during the shower, brushing the teeth, washing hands or using toilets, that allows a lot of water to be run off . For say, a person needs 25 gallons of water for a regular shower, but this shower is possible to complete with 4 gallons if the water is preserved in a bucket and pour it on the body using a mug. Like this, 19 gallons of water can be saved from a single shaving if it is done with the stored water. We have no habit of reusing or recycling the water. We have forgotten that water is the most valuable thing and it is limited. The conservative style of using the water can help to reduce the pressure on the ground water of this city.

During the rainy season we find the street of the Dhaka city is flooded with the rain water, while many people do not have safe water for their daily use. This rain water could be harvested to meet a big part of water demand of the city dwellers from early April to late September of a year. By creating the habit and practice of using rain water we can reduce the pressure on the ground water of the Dhaka city.

We should remember that we have no more time in our hand as we are already at the edge of the danger. Therefore, to avoid a catastrophic circumstance, we should start the conservative and judicious water use practice right now.

Author: Md. Firoj Alam
Published in The Bangladesh Observer, January 11, 2005
Also available at Environmental Articles Archive: Water Resources
Web version prepared by BCAS
January, 2005

Weaving others' fortune with the yarn of own life

Md. Firoj Alam

Garments is a highly labour intensive industry in Bangladesh. Presently there are as many as 2,900 export oriented garments factories where more than 1.4 millions workers are working, and 80 per cent of them are female. More than 70 per cent of total export earning equivalent to $5 billion comes every year from this sector. Including indirect employment, this sector provides jobs for over four million people. It has created many backward linkage industries which also play an important role in our national economy. So it can be easily understood that the present base of the economy of this country is founded on the garments industry.

But if we go back to the decade of the 1970s, we find that there was no existence of garments industry in any real sense. In the year 1978, there were only nine garments factories, employing only 200 workers. The sector's contribution to the economy was simply insignificant then. But after 25 years, the garments sector has become the main contributor to the economy, and it is surviving quite efficiently in the competitive world markets with recognition and reputation for its quality products. Bangladesh feels proud that its products are entering many countries of the world. But do we know the secret behind this success? The secret is the garments industry has a lot of female workers who are efficient in needle work, sincere, and do not know how to form a trade union.

Since the beginning, these good workers have been exploited by the garment industry. They are seriously underpaid compare to their labour and contribution. In order to lift themselves out of poverty, these workers have come from the rural areas with a hope of a bit better life. Most of them are under the age of 20, unmarried, and have little formal education. A fresh female worker starts her job with a monthly salary of Tk 300 to 700 and has no housing or transport facilities. Everyday they have to trek a long distance to work. If you are an early riser you must have seen the march of these garments workers on the road. Same way, they return home late at night on foot. Alas, they cannot afford even the cheapest public transport.

These garments workers often become the target of criminals, face sexual harassment, and sometimes have to pay a big price. Garments workers pass their days in severe social insecurity. Besides, no employer ensures them the security of their job. The incident of termination from the job is quite frequent. The worst thing is that they are not allowed to express these injustices openly. We often hear the news of harassment of the garments workers when they raise their voices. The garments owners do not ensure the minimum standard of safe working environment for them. Each year many garments workers meet tragic death due to accidental fire in the garment factories.

Each and every day our central bank checks how far the barometer of our foreign currency reserve has risen, our finance ministers calculates how big the export earning figure is going to be in the next fiscal year, and our garments owners think how the business will be extended further with the profit margin, but they do not think how the garments worker will be able to live an additional day with minimum level of decency.


However, the miserable conditions of the garments workers were always a concern for the countries that import garments from Bangladesh. But most of the time, we have seen it as a conspiracy of other countries that want to drive out Bangladesh from the competitive world market. The problems of the garments workers have never been focused on sincerely. I still can remember the debate over the Harkin Bill that expressed concern over child labour and some other related issues of the garments industries during the early 1990s. Finally, under pressure from the importing countries, a MOU was signed among BGMEA, ILO, UNICEF, and the US in Dhaka in 1994 to eliminate child labour, abide by the laws that regulate minimum wage, ensure friendly environment for working, etc. A decade has passed since the MOU was signed, and little appears to have improved, if we are to believe the recent report in The Daily Star on the plight of garments workers in Konabari in Gazipur.

I fear that this is only the tip of the iceberg. Perhaps many more incidents of tragic suicide, sexual harassment, and job losses of the garments workers are happening in other places of the country. The fortunate garments industrialists, would you please look further at these wretched workers who have made their lives yarn to weave your fortune. I am using the word "further" because, according to the report of The Daily Star, more than 50 garments workers have committed suicide in Konabari in the last five months, but the president of BGMEA is not aware of it.


After the year 2004, according to the negations of the Uruguay Round of GATT (now WTO), Bangladesh will lose all the special preferences/quotas given by US and EU, and the garments sector will have to face a big challenge to survive in the world market. It is being assumed that many of the garments industries will have to be closed, and that the first victims will be the thousands of vulnerable garments workers. The garments industrialists, government, and NGOs should be prepared in advance to save them. Otherwise, a humanitarian crisis will have to be faced.

Author: Md Firoj Alam
Published: The Daily Star, July 15, 2004

Water security for all

Md. Firoj Alam

Deprivation is not a consequence of shortage of safe water, rather a consequence of inequitable distribution. While the affluent people, both in rural and urban areas, get water first, it is the poor and the marginalised sections of society who are invariably left out. The urban poor seem destined to fetch spilled-over water from the water reservoir of the rich. Similarly, the rural poor queue up at the deep tubewell of the rich. The pattern of water begging is identical in urban and rural areas.


Worse, source of safe water is on the wane, courtesy of indiscriminate dumping of industrial, human and other wastes into natural water bodies. What's more, injudicious extraction has resulted in arsenic contamination of groundwater in India and Bangladesh. While the rich have triggered the contamination, the poor have suffered the consequences. In Bangladesh, some 55 million people risk exposure to arsenic contamination. Needless to say, most of them are poor.


However, the water security has spelled boon for many. National and multinational companies have made a windfall from sale of drinking water. Global water industry is worth $7 trillion and has assured itself of profit at least for the next 25 years (Dr Sudhirendar Sharma, The Daily Star, April 19, 2002). The third world markets are now flooded with different types of water purification filters, testing kits and accessories. While the water traders are trying to boost their sales with the arsenic-free labels on their bottled water, they are not contributing a penny from their profits to efforts towards sustainable solution to arsenic crisis. On top of this, the World Bank is pursuing governments to privatise the water supply system for cost recovery from supplied water. If it succeeds, water insecurity will only deepen with millions more rendered vulnerable.


The primary objective of any developing country should be to ensure every citizen access to safe drinking water with special attention given to the poor and the disadvantaged. Water rate should within reach of the people in the lower rung of society. For sustainable management of water resources, the government should involve community participation.

Author: Md Firoj Alam, Published in the Daily Star, January 17, 2003
View at source: http://www.thedailystar.net/dailystarnews/200301/17/n3011709.htm#BODY6

CHT先住民族、最悪の水危機に直面

訳:ジュマ協力基金)

チッタゴン丘陵地帯3県にはチョラ(Chhara)、チョリ(Chhari)、ロン(Long)、キャン(khyang)などの接尾語が付く地名が多数ある(例えばサッチョラ、ベッチョラ、バガイチョリ、ビライチョリ、シュバロン、カスロン、リグリキャンなど)。 それらの接尾語は先住民族の言葉で泉や小川を意味する。そのためバンダルボン、ランガマティ、カグラチョリの各地の地名が数百年にわたってCHTで暮らしてきた先住民族12集団の暮らしにとって重要な役割を担ってきた泉や小川に因ん名付けられたことは容易に理解出来る。

先住民族は、平野部の人々が使ってきたような近代的な利水技術を取り入れてこなかったためその技術に不案内である。 従って、先住民族は自然の水源、特に泉の水を灌漑、農耕はもとより、飲み水、料理、洗濯、水浴び用として頼ってきた。 すべての村は、それ故に泉の近くに建設された。棄てられた古い村も、近くにあった泉が涸れたことが原因で人々が去ったと考えられる。

CHTのすべての川と支流は、そのエリアの数百に及ぶ泉が自然に合流したものである。カルナフリ川がチッタゴン港の機能を保つ上でいかに重要であるか誰でも知っているが、その水もそうした泉からのものなのだ。同じく、サング川、ナフ川、マツムフリ川他の河川も泉を源流としている。

CHTの先住民族にとって悪いニュースだが、この地域の泉は涸れ始めている。CHTには100年前、推計20万ヵ所の泉があった。 この地域に現在、泉がいくつあるのか統計はない。しかし、CHTの殆どの地域で年々多くの泉が涸れてしまっていることを、地元の人々はみんな知っている。

チッタゴンとランガマティの途中のガグラに大変重要な泉があるが、7,8年前までは一年中満々と水を湛える力強い泉であったが今は僅かにその面影を残すのみである。

ランガマティとマハルチョリの間には良質な泉が数多くあったが、近年それらも殆ど涸れてしまった。ランガマティ県のライカリ・ユニオンにある有名なNyoungmrongの泉は数百軒の先住民族家庭に灌漑用水と家事のための水を年中供給していたが、今は涸れてしまった。 Nyoungmrongの泉が涸れてしまった後で、たった一つの水源となったBrimongの泉も水勢がかなり衰えている。村人は現在、この泉の土手に100年以上続いてきた歴史ある村を棄てるかどうか悩んでいる。

Mura Chhari UnionのGhumni Ghat 泉, Satari 泉, Pengjamrong 泉、Kolabong 泉、 そしてMiasachari UnionのKaria Frya泉, Manchhari 泉も同様の運命を辿っており、それらの泉の周囲に長年にわたって暮らしてきた先住民族は深刻な水危機に直面している。

CHTの泉は、世界中の至る所で見られるような溶けた氷や氷河から流れ出た水が噴き出しているのではない。 チッタゴン丘陵地帯の泉は樹木の根を伝って山々の裂け目に流れ落ちた水が源となっている。それ故、山霧と降雨はそのプロセスを早める。もちろん、そのように泉が創成される素晴らしいプロセスは原生林に厚く覆われた山々だけに起こりうる。しかし、CHTの原生林は過度の人口増大と政府や開発機関による無分別な開発イニシアティブによって急激に減少してる。

ここで過度の人口増加と政府の開発政策について大まかに検討してみたい。 CHTの1901年の総人口は124,762人であったが、2000年には1,325,041になっている。1997年までの10年ごとの人口増加は国全体で約18%であったのに対して、CHTでは47%だった。この人口増加は異常であるが、もとよりそれは1979年から1997年にかけて平野部のベンガル人がCHTへ移住するのを政府が後押ししたためである。他地域からの人々の流入がCHTの異常な人口増加の原因である。 80年代と90年代の各10年間の人口増加率はそれぞれ48%と67%にも上った。

CHTにおける急激な人口増加は全体の人口構成と民族の均衡に衝撃を与えた。先住民族とベンガル人の人口比率は1947年に97.5対2.5であったのが、現在では52対48である。

1962年にパキスタン政府は水力発電のためにカルナフリ川を堰き止めてダムを造り、人口の貯水池として現在有名なカプタイ湖が出来た。 この湖は先住民族の耕作地の4割にあたる5万4千エーカーを推定に沈めた。耕作地の減少と人口の増大は森林に対して深刻な圧力を生み出した。

伝統的に先住民族は(ジュムとして知られる)「刈り入れと山焼き」システムを営んできた。 焼畑を永続的に行うためには、丘陵地帯では植物を燃やして耕作した森が回復するために15年から20年の休耕期間を設けることが必要だと考えられている。 過去、土地と人間の割合は焼畑サイクルに理想的かつ必要な休耕期間が保てるよう釣り合っていた。しかし現在は人口過剰のために休耕期間は2,3年まで縮まってしまったが、それでは植物が生長し森が復活するには短すぎる。このジュム耕作の悪循環は、泉が生まれる前提条件である原生林が消失してしまう主要な原因の一つである。

チョンドラゴーナのカルナフリ製紙工場とその他の国中のパルプと製紙工場は、CHTから運び込まれる樹木と植物数百万トンの原料供給で成り立っており、この地域の森林破壊に重大な責任がある。カルナフリ製紙工場はCHTの先住民族にとって極めて重要な植物である竹を毎年数百万トン消費している。

政府といくつかの開発機関は商業林を作り、ティーク、アカシア、ユーカリなどの外来種を植林した。これらの外来種は、自然に森が再生しようとするのを阻害し、地下水面を低下させるなど環境危機を招いた。 さらに悪いことに、自然林の消失は気温上昇を引き起こし、そして降水量を減少させた。このようにして環境全体の変化が、結果としてCHTに水危機を生み出したのだった。

バングラデシュでは全人口の97%が安全な水を得ることが出来きる、と言われていた。しかし、ヒ素汚染(0.5 mg/L以上)の調査後、安全な水を得られる人口は70%まで落ち込んだ。 この安全な水が得られる地域の落ち込みは政府、援助機関、そしてNGOの頭痛の種となり、すべての関係機関はヒ素の恐怖から人々を救うために一致協力して活動している。

過去3年間にDANIDA(デンマーク開発協力庁)は単独で沿岸地帯8県の161,755本の手押ポンプ式井戸のヒ素検査を実施し、20,100本のポンプ式井戸、32の小水道システム、210箇所の池砂フィルタ、そして雨水を飲料用に蓄えるシステムを導入してヒ素に汚染された水を人々が飲まずに済むようにした。

バングラデシュの他地域ではこのように大きな機関が活動している。片やバングラデシュ政府はランガマティ、バンダルボン、カグラチョリの三県はヒ素に汚染されていないと公表した。

水がなくなったのに、いったいヒ素はどこから来るというのだろうか？　もしかすると現実に関する認識が欠如しているのかもしれない。政府はCHTでいったいどれだけの人々が安全な水を入手出来ないか知らないし、ここでどれだけ広範に深刻な水危機が起きているのかも知らない。

「カウンティング・ザ・ヒル」のサンプル調査によれば、2.9%のムル民族、14,3%のトリプラ民族、32%のマルマ民族、26%のチャクマ民族が安全で信頼できる水源と考えられるポンプ式井戸を利用している。 残りの人々は、泉や川など安全性が確保できない水源から水を汲み、そして、その水が飲用として安全かどうかも分からないのだ。

毎年、辺鄙な村では水が原因の病気で多くの人々が命を落としている。さらに、ここでは水の消費は極めて低い。 水浴び、調理、飲み水、そして洗濯などで一人が一日に必要な水は最低でも50リットルだとされているのに対して、先住民族は5リットルで過ごしていたという観察記録もある。 水汲み場が遠いことが水の消費が少ない主な理由であり、そのことは確実に丘陵地帯の人々の健康にさまざまな悪影響を及ぼす。

政府と援助機関は、この水危機の重大性をはっきりと認識していない。マスメディアもCHTに対する知識不足や、山や森に近づきにくいことなどが原因で、この問題を取り上げてこなかった。その結果、厳しい水危機の下で暮らしている丘陵民の苦境について全く知られていない。

Author:
Md. Firoj Alam and Nyhola Mong
Published:http://www.thedailystar.net/2004/06/18/d406181801103.htm

Translation:Third Culture [http://thirdculture.com/jpa/jcc/index.html], Japan

Ethics and trade

Md. Firoj Alam:
THOUSANDS of babies in China are fighting against death. They have virtually been poisoned by toxic elements in milk -- the main baby food. We get news about adulterated food almost every day in the print and electronic media. I feel that this world is unsafe for human beings. Even innocent babies are being poisoned to death! We need to contemplate on why this is happening. What is wrong with human conscience? In this article, I will discuss the basis of ethics. The laws have proved a failure. Despite having so many laws and law enforcing agencies, courts and judicial systems every day why so many crimes are taking place? This is why nowadays the word "ethics" has come forward. People are so cunning that they can easily escape from the laws and law enforcing agencies and commit crimes. So ethics is the last straw holding what the humanity wants to survive from sinking in the deep sea of inhumanity in this present world.Ethics is self responsibility -- sprit of not doing harm for others. My intention here is to discuss a little about why we have become so unethical in this stage.The physical body of a human being is nothing but a vehicle of which the mind or emotion is the driver. The body just follows that comes to the mind. The body is even unable to differentiate between false and true, reality and imagination. A baby comes into the world in body-mind state. It remains connected to the universe -- the total existence. The baby comes into the world as a pure being. As the days pass by, the baby's mind gets separated from the body. The modern psychologist now says that human being has two parts: body and mind. In this article, I am using emotion as a synonym of mind from now. Emotion has its two aspects: fair emotion and unfair emotion. Fair emotion is just love and compassion. Primarily it is love and ultimately it reaches to the height of compassion. A true human being is just compassion. The well known compassionate figures in the world are Hazrat Mohammed (sm), Jesus, Mohavir, Nanak, Buddha, Socrates, etc. The list can be made longer but I think it is enough to understand the compassionate personalities. On the other hand, the unfair parts of the emotion basically consist of three things: anger, greed, and fear. All negative feelings like jealousy, hatred, and anxiety basically are the branches and leaves of these three. In the world we come with fair emotion and gradually we import and accumulate the unfair emotion. The unfair part becomes bigger and bigger and the fair parts get smaller and smaller, and gradually the fair emotions are knocked out by the unfair part of the emotion. Now, let us see how do we take decisions in our daily life? All the decisions we take are based on either, anger or greed or fear. We cannot take a decision based on love. How can we do that? We have eliminated that part from our heart with the socialisation process. On the other hand, the society has given a lot of nourishment for anger, greed and fear. Interesting thing is the fair and unfair emotion cannot stay together. It is like dark and light that cannot exist together.The basis of the present world economy is greed. Greed is the main capital. The trade, economy and other essential things for survival has gone to the wrong hand. For this reason we find the world is at the verge of destruction. In this stage I am quoting few verses from Kahlil Gibran that may show us how far we have gone from the ethics of trade:To you the earth yields her fruit, and you shall not want if you but know how to fill your hands.It is in exchanging the gifts of the earth that you shall find abundance and be satisfied.Yet unless the exchange be in love and kindly justice, it will but lead some to greed and others to hunger.When in the market place you toilers of the sea and fields and vineyards meet the weavers and the potters and the gatherers of spices,Invoke then the master spirit of the earth, to come into your midst and sanctify the scales and the reckoning that weighs value against value.And suffer not the barren-handed to take part in your transactions, who would sell their words for your labour.To such men you should say,"Come with us to the field, or go with our brothers to the sea and cast your net;For the land and the sea shall be bountiful to you even as to us.And if there come the singers and the dancers and the flute players, buy of their gifts also.For they too are gatherers of fruit and frankincense, and that which they bring, though fashioned of dreams, is raiment and food for your soul.And before you leave the market place, see that no one has gone his way with empty hands.For the master spirit of the earth shall not sleep peacefully upon the wind till the needs of the least of you are satisfied.[On Buying and Selling, The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran,]. Ethic will not come into being automatically. We had it at the time of our childhood. We lost it though the process of socialisation. We shall have to reclaim it. In fact it is already with us. It is existing deep within our being. We shall have to bring it out. Otherwise, we will be doing harm of other as well as of our own soul
Md. Firoj Alam is working as a Project Officer with Unicef
Published in the Daily Star On: 2008-10-12

http://www.thedailystar.net/story.php?nid=58265