The New Nation - Internet Edition

Our Correspondent, Barisal

'Cyclone Affected Aquaculture Rehabilitation Project (CAARP)' of World Fish Center-Bangladesh ( WFC-BD) with financial assistances from USAID helping restoring and developing pisciculture and fishery activities in five districts of Sidr affected southern region.

Around 37,500 small and marginal pisciculture and fish cultivators would be benefited by this project under implementation in 5 Sidr affected districts including Barisal and Patuakhali. The project assistances included distribution of required number of fish, fish-fries of different varieties and prawn according to the needs and sizes of ponds, tanks, water resource.

Under CAARP project besides supplying fish-fries, different types of fish-feed, limestone, TSP, urea fertilizers, oil-cake, fish and pond management training and equipment, medicine, cloths, dyke repairing and construction surrounds fish cultivation spots.

Financial assistances also provided for the people engaging in pisciculture and fish cultivation. This project is implemented with the assistances of 11 local NGOs including Association of Voluntary Assistance for Society(AVAS), Chardradwip Development Society (CDS), of Barisal, Community Development and Health Care Center (CDHC) of Galachipa under Patuakhali and Nazrul Smriti Sangho of Amtoli (NSS) under Barguna districts.

Catastrophic sidr ravaged the wealth and properties of south-western coastal people of Bangladesh and collapsed interactive relationship of livelihood, financial capabilities and means of productive capacity.

Taslima, Fazar Ali, Hannan, Kamal Howladar of Uzirpur upazila under Barisal, Rahima Bibi, a small pond owner of Paschim Laxmipur village of Dashmina upazilla under Patuakhali said that they benefited to get rehabilitation aquaculture package of World Fish center-Bangladesh and practiced pond aquaculture with dyke cropping.

Naseem Ahmed Aleem, principal coordinator, Zakir Hoassain, aquaculture experts of WFC-BD, Dr. Manjurul Karim and Kurat-E-Kabir, project managers of CAARP and said that they would like to do some things regarding positive changes of coastal people's livelihoods.

They reciting about this project operation and smooth functioning further said that it was an unparallel and challenging project but had a great opportunity to recover livelihood condition by up-scaling from ransacked situation of the poor small pisciculture, fishery and fish farmers in the sidr-hit who were really affected by the devastating natural calamity.