The government has decided to keep the movement of all ships on the St Martin’s Island routes closed after Eid-ul-Fitr due to the ongoing conflict inside Myanmar.
Earlier, due to the conflict and navigability crisis on the Naf River, Cox’s Bazar district administration suspended the movement of ships from Damdamiya Ghat in Teknaf to the island two months ago.
Currently, two tourist ships are allowed to move from Inani naval jetty to the island.
However, the number of tourists in these ships is very low.
Cox’s Bazar additional district magistrate Yamin Hossain said that no tourist ship will be allowed to go to the island from the day after Eid-ul-Fitr until further notice.
He said that the impact of the conflict in Myanmar was now closer to the island, and there were reports of explosions inside Myanmar.
Therefore, the administration does not want to take any risk by allowing the movement of tourist ships, he added.
Earlier, on March 29, residents of the island heard a loud explosion from inside Myanmar.
Akhtar Kamal, a member of Ward No 1 of Saint Martin’s Union Parishad, said that the residents of the island were in fear since that incident.
