Marine communication between Teknaf and Saint Martin Island in Cox’s Bazar has not been normalized yet. Because of this, the country’s only coral island is still virtually isolated. Due to the continuous suspension of boat traffic, there is a shortage of daily necessities and food items, and teaching in health care and educational institutions is also being disrupted.

Currently, 10,000 residents of the island are living in dire straits. Due to the closure of regular shipping routes, goods have been transported to St. Maarten by alternative shipping routes. However, since June 22, no boat has operated on that route till today, Saturday, two o’clock.

St. Martin Union Parishad (UP) Chairman Mujibur Rahman and Service Trawler Owners Association President Abdur Rashid confirmed this information to the media. He said two trawlers reached St. Martin on June 22 via an alternate route from Teknaf. In these two trawlers named SB Naeem and SB Mayer Doa, more than three hundred gas cylinders, some food products and 10 to 12 passengers were delivered to St. Martin. At the same time, 2 speedboats with 15 passengers including patients arrived at Shahpari Island from St. Martin.

It is known that they are not in any kind of panic about the internal problems of Myanmar after talking to about half a hundred people of St. Martin Island public representatives, traders, teachers, trawler owners, general public and the market committee on the phone due to the closure of the sea route. However, they have suffered due to the suspension of boat traffic.

Meanwhile, from June 8, all types of navigation on the Teknaf-Saint Martin route are closed. Earlier on June 5 and 8, trawlers and speedboats were fired at from Naikxyongdia area of ​​that route. Although no one was injured, the trawler was hit by seven bullets. Since then, the upazila administration has stopped boat traffic through that waterway. After that, as an alternative, boat traffic was allowed through the area called ‘Golgra’ in Badarmokam of Shahpari island on the sea coast. But trawler owners are not willing to use this risky alternative route, said Abdur Rashid, president of St. Martin Service Trawler Owners Association.

There are two island-wide schools for young students living on the island of St. Martin. Among them, one is a government primary school and another is St. Martin’s BN Islamic School and College.

Number of students in primary school is 205. Officially, there are seven teacher-staff positions in that school, but three teachers and one clerk are working. And the students of BN Islamic School and College are more than three hundred. 13 teachers and staff. Among them, June 13 is Eid and summer vacation in both schools. Most of the teachers at two of these institutions left St. Martin’s. Most of the teachers of the two schools could not return to the island due to the loss of communication.

Akhter Kamal, the panel chairman of Saint Martin’s Union Parishad, said, “There is great sadness on the foreheads of the people of the island. I am living somehow without eating. But despite all this, if the students could study, there would be peace. At present, due to teacher vacancy in two institutions, education is being disrupted.

Commodity and food crisis

Along with the regular route, the Teknaf-Saint-Martin route is also closed for passenger and cargo vessels. In this, there has been a shortage of daily necessities including rice, pulses, eggs, chicken, gas, edible oil, fuel, and cereals.

Jet Ghat is the main market of Saint Martin with hundreds of shops-hotels-restaurants. Today it is known that most of the shops do not have stock of daily necessities. A few shops have some rice-flour-flour, cooking oil and fuel, but they are being sold at high prices. No eggs were found yesterday in some shops on the north and south sides of the market. But a week ago, 1 egg was sold for Tk 25. 1 kg of potato is sold at 110 and 1 kg of onion is sold at 150 taka.

Grocer md. Hossain said that foodstuff and daily necessities cannot be brought from Teknaf due to the suspension of boat traffic. On June 22, after Eid al-Adha, he brought soybean oil, onions, garlic, ginger, eggs and rice and stored them in the warehouse. Seeing people suffering, they are selling stocked goods. But no trawler is able to travel due to the closure of trawlers on the navigable route. If this situation continues, the people of the island will starve to death.

In this regard, UP Chairman of St. Martin Island, Mujibur Rahman said, ‘I am somehow alive without eating. It can be said that the people of the island are living a life imprisoned in the middle of the ocean. St. Maarten’s supply of essential foodstuffs is disrupted due to the suspension of shipping. The local administration has to strengthen the patrolling of the Coast Guard and BGB in Badarmokam area of ​​Naf river to normalize the movement of boats. At the same time, it is necessary to dig in the Badar Mokam area due to the rising tide.

Teknaf Upazila Executive Director. Adnan Chowdhury said that in order to solve the food crisis, instead of the Naf River, trawlers have been allowed to move to St. Martin through the Teknaf coast of the Bay of Bengal with daily necessities including foodstuffs, but no trawler is taking risks due to the rough sea, but they are trying.