Barrister Mutasim Billah Faruqui, Governor of Rotary International District 3281, will inaugurate a nationwide tree plantation campaign on Friday as part of Rotary's target of planting one million saplings this year.
The opening ceremony will be held at 10:30 am on Friday on the premises of Salimuddin Choudhury Degree College at Kanchan at Rupganj in Narayanganj. The tree plantation drive by Rotary District 3281 is set to begin in line with the call from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina who last month urged all citizens to plant at least three saplings during this monsoon.
“As an international voluntary organisation, Rotary in Bangladesh has planned to plant at least 1 million saplings to help improve the environment of our beautiful country. We’re starting this campaign under a multi-club initiative,” Faruqui said in a statement ahead of the inauguration.
“As Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina rightly asked all citizens to come forward, Rotarians can't sit idle. It's our national duty to help improve the ecosystem as protection of the environment is a vital part of our seven areas of focus Rotary is working on across the world,” he said.
Faruqui said nearly 100 clubs are directly joining the opening on Friday while others will do the same across the country. “We want to make it successful with the help of all the Rotary clubs under the RID 3281."
Besides the opening ceremony, Barrister Faruqui will also release fish fry in the Shitalakhya River, organise a free medical camp at KPS General Hospital and distribute educational materials among school children on Friday.
Under the RID 3281, some 300 Rotary clubs are working under the Rotary International, headquartered in Illinois in the United States, in various sectors, including water and sanitation, economic and community development, maternal and child health, supporting the environment, basic education and literacy, disease prevention and treatment and peace and conflict resolution.
More than 1.2 million Rotarians are members of the Rotary International from over 35,000 clubs across the world.