SAARC Meteorological Research Centre in Dhaka closing down

After working for almost two decades, the SAARC Meteorological Research Centre (SMRC) in Dhaka will be closed down at the end of 2015.

It would not function after Dec 31 and a new entity ‘SAARC Environment and Disaster Management Centre (SEDMC) would replace it.
 
The new organisation will be formed through a merger of SMRC and similar organisations in three other SAARC countries.
 
A recent circular by the SAARC Secretariat stipulated that the SAARC Disaster Management Centre in India, SAARC Coastal Zone Management Centre in Maldives, Bhutan’s SAARC Forestry Centre and Bangladesh’s SMRC will be merged into the new SEDMC.
 
It also says that the 26 officials and employees at the SMRC in Dhaka will lose their jobs after December.
 
“This research facility will be formally closed down on Dec 31. Officials of the SAARC Secretariat will come to Dhaka on Dec 20 to collect the necessary documents,” SMRC Director Md Shah Alam told bdnews24.com.
 
SMRC officials, however, find the loss of work  without any alternatives arranged for them as 'unacceptable'.
 
“The proposed compensation is meagre. We urge the prime minister to take steps for transferring us to other government organisations in keeping with our experience and education,” said SMRC Senior Research Officer Nazli Ferdous.
 
SMRC officials say that SAARC leaders are expected to discuss the climate change issue at the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York this month.
 
They say that the new SEDMC might be set up in Dhaka, if the prime minister takes initiatives. That may save their jobs.
 
SMRC Director Shah Alam, however, says that it’s the SAARC Secretariat, which will decide where the office of the new SEDMC will be set up.
 

Meanwhile, former SMRC chiefs say that Bangladesh now should focus on using the experience gathered from this research facility.

“It’s unfortunate that the SMRC is closing down, when Bangladesh is likely to be affected most by climate change. Measures should be taken immediately to use the skilled manpower,” said former director of the Meteorological Department Samarendra Karmakar.

Meanwhile, another former SMRC chief says that the objective of setting up the SMRC has been fulfilled in the two decades.

“The highest forum of SAARC has decided to close it down. We now need to use its experience,” said Sujit Kumar Deb Sharma.

The SMRC, which started its operations in January, 1995, has published 150 scientific reports and articles in local and international journals.