Reference no: EM133238588

Bangladeshi environmental legislation has systematic issues in regard to regulating the country's shrimp industry. One of the systematic issue is lack of institutional capacity. What does this issue mean in specific? Please explain the issue of "lack of institutional capacity" in greater detail based on the reading:

The DG of the DoE has admitted that it faces a backlog of complaints going back several years and that the agency does not have the capacity to investigate. Nor does it have the capacity to generate the requisite report on those complaints warranting judicial filing.88 The impact for the environment courts in Bangladesh is a misleadingly insufficient caseload. For instance, the Dhaka Environmental Court heard only 93 cases in its first six years.

Although the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) acts as a focal point for addressing issues of sustainable development, it has yet to develop a strong, functioning planning cell to support its work and lacks essential data on resources and areas of environmental concern.

Moreover, it lacks the necessary, basic technical expertise to effectively assess and monitor projects for their environmental impact and also
suffers from a shortage of basic facilities, equipment and logistic support.91 The DoE - the implementing organ of the MoEF - faces similar weaknesses, such as a shortage of adequate and trained manpower and the lack of an information management system supported by a strong data bank to back up planning, policies and monitoring activities.

If the MoEF and DoE lack the technical expertise necessary to assess environmental impact, it will be difficult for these bodies to internalize the environmental costs of uncontrolled and unregulated shrimp aquaculture in the coastal areas and to oblige the polluters to bear the cost of pollution. This is so, notwithstanding the pressure to achieve compliance with the international obligation to internalize environmental costs and oblige polluters to bear the costs of pollution, as well as carry out EIAs for proposed projects, pursuant to Principles 16 and 17 of the Rio Declaration.93 More importantly, lack of sufficient manpower for the implementation of relevant laws and regulations, a shortage of funds, and the lack of other logistic supports for carrying out the activities of the Department of Fisheries (DoF) and the Bangladesh Fisheries Development Corporation (BFDC), are together considered to be the key challenges and constraints for promoting sustainable fisheries resources, including shrimp aquaculture. this situation continues, no policy, rule or regulation could contribute to the development and conservation of mangrove resources.98 Besides, the availability of resources for monitoring the implementation and enforcement of environmental regulatory compliance with measures for sustainable shrimp aquaculture is inadequate in Bangladesh.