Over 250 hotels; zero fire clearance

Tourist travel to St Martin’s Island, the country’s only coral island, will resume next Sunday, but concerns over tourist safety and environmental protection persist. None of the island’s more than 250 hotels, resorts, cottages and restaurants has fire service clearance, while most also lack approval from the Department of Environment.

Many establishments lack basic safety measures, including firefighting equipment, sewage treatment plants and emergency exits. Despite longstanding demands, the island has no fire service station or trained firefighting unit.

Safety concerns have intensified following a fire at Tuptup Resort in the Patuartek area of Inani, along Cox’s Bazar’s Marine Drive, on October 17 that killed 10 tourists. Most resorts on St Martin’s are built with wood, bamboo and other flammable materials. Fire service officials fear that strong sea winds could accelerate the spread of a fire, potentially causing a major disaster.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has said last year’s restrictions will remain in force despite the start of the new tourism season. Overnight stays will not be allowed in November but will be permitted in December and January.

Sabrina Rahman, senior assistant secretary at the ministry, said the instructions issued in last year’s notification would be followed. Although the tourist travel period has been extended this year, the rules on overnight stays remain unchanged.

Environmental activists and other concerned stakeholders have called for effective monitoring to protect the island’s fragile ecosystem and regulate visitor numbers.

No fire safety, rising risks
Dakshinpara beach on St Martin’s is an important breeding ground for sea turtles. About three kilometres south of the island’s jetty, Coral Moon Beach Resort stands beside the beach. Built with brick, wood and bamboo, it has six two-storey cottages, each with two rooms, for a total of 12 rooms. The neighbouring Bella Vista Resort has five rooms.

More than 20 resorts, including El Marina Eco Resort, Sinbad Experience Resort, Sand Castle Resort, SKD Amar Bari Resort, Blue Marine Resort-2 and Sunset Serenity Resort, are also located along Dakshinpara beach. These establishments are built with brick, wood and bamboo.

According to the Fire Service and Civil Defence and the Department of Environment, St Martin’s now has more than 250 hotels, resorts, cottages and restaurants, at least 150 of which were built in the past five years.

Despite the growing number of establishments, no hotel or resort has fire service clearance, and none has adequate firefighting arrangements, according to the authorities. Many also lack Department of Environment approval, sewage treatment plants and emergency exits.

The absence of effective administrative monitoring has allowed such establishments to continue operating without adequate safety measures. New hotels are also being built amid alleged irregularities.

Local residents said firefighting equipment was largely absent from homes and hotels across the island. They warned that without adequate equipment or a rapid response mechanism, a fire could quickly escalate into a major disaster.

Locals also alleged that the administration had failed to properly monitor the construction and operation of hotels, resorts and restaurants, with some people benefiting from the irregularities.

Over the past year, the Department of Environment filed cases against 31 hotels. Mobile courts also conducted drives at 15 hotels over alleged environmentally harmful activities, imposing fines totalling Tk3.05 lakh.

Admitting that the resort lacked firefighting arrangements, Mohammad Imran, officer-in-charge of Coral Moon Beach Resort, said they would make arrangements for basic firefighting after November 1.

Kamruzzaman Sumon, station commander of Teknaf Fire Service and Civil Defence, said firefighters had to hire a speedboat from Teknaf Sadar to reach St Martin’s when a fire was reported. Rough seas during bad weather could prevent them from travelling to the island, he added.

Shafiqul Islam, an inspector at the licensing branch of Cox’s Bazar Fire Service and Civil Defence, said the absence of fire clearance and adequate firefighting arrangements at the island’s hotels and resorts was a major concern.

“We are worried about St Martin’s, because not a single hotel or resort on this island has fire clearance. Even firefighting arrangements are almost non-existent,” he said.

A Fire Service and Civil Defence team will visit the island next Thursday, after which the authorities will decide on further action, he added.

Syed Muhammad Morshed Hossain, deputy director of Cox’s Bazar Fire Service, said strong sea winds could cause fires to spread rapidly through resorts built with wood and bamboo.

Such establishments need portable fire extinguishers, fire alarms, hosepipes and fire safety plans, but these measures are absent on the island, he said.

Fires have previously damaged several hotels and resorts on St Martin’s. In the early hours of January 15, 2025, a fire destroyed 26 rooms across three resorts in the Galachipa area on the island’s western beach.

Local resident Nur Mohammad said the lack of firefighting facilities had made it difficult to control the earlier blaze. Residents had collected water and tried to extinguish the fire themselves, he said.

He called for a fire service unit, even a small one, to be established on the island to protect both tourists and residents. Waiting for firefighters to arrive from the mainland could allow a fire to cause far greater damage, he added.

Local union parishad member Habibur Rahman said establishing a fire service facility on St Martin’s had long been a local demand. He said fire safety was particularly important on an island that attracts tourists and called for trained personnel and adequate equipment to be deployed at least during the tourist season.

St Martin’s is not only a tourist destination but also an important habitat for the country’s marine biodiversity.

According to the Department of Environment, the island is one of Bangladesh’s 13 ecologically critical areas (ECAs), where activities that damage the environment and ecosystem must be controlled.