Rough weather leaves 4,000 tourists stranded in Saint Martin's Island

Rough weather leaves 4,000 tourists stranded in Saint Martin's Island
Jafor Alom,Cox's Bazar
Inclement weather has left more than 4,000 tourists stranded at Saint Martin's Island in Cox's Bazar.
It halted the vessel movement on the Teknaf-Saint Martin's waterway route from Sunday morning, trapping people who had gone to visit the popular tourist spot, according to Teknaf Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO)Parvez Chowdhury.
The Teknaf upazila administration decided to stop the movement of ships. Besides, they have requested the tourists stranded on the island to not come to the beach to avoid accidents.
Teknaf Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Parvez Chowdhury said, “No tourist ship was allowed to sail to St Martin’s Island from Teknaf to avoid the accident as the sea was rough. Ship authorities have been asked to return the money to the tourists who bought tickets and the hotel authorities have also been asked to give 50 percent off on the rent.”
“Law enforcement agencies have been asked to ensure that tourists on the island are not harassed and stranded tourists are requested to not come to the beach,” he added. 
The residential hotels and restaurants have been directed to take steps for ensuring safety of the tourists, said Nur Ahmad, chairman of Saint Martin's Union Council.  
Saifur Rahman, manager of the Nildiganta Hotel on the island, said, “Some 4,000 tourists have been stranded on the island due to bad weather conditions. There are hundreds of tourists staying at my hotel. They have come to visit the island in the last two days.”
Anisur Rahman, a businessman from Dhaka who got stranded on the island, said, “I am stranded on the island with my family members. Many tourists like me are stranded here. No ship arrived on St Martin today due to rough weather. We have to stay one more day here.”
Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) Teknaf Region Traffic Supervisor Zahir Uddin Bhuiyan said, “Due to inclement weather, the country's seaports, including Cox's Bazar, have been asked to issue warning signal number 3. In order to avoid accidents, the movement of tourist ships on this waterway has been suspended.”
According to the ghat authorities, more than four to five thousand tourists visit St Martin’s Island every day in nine ships from Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf Damdamiya Ghat.
Seven ships ply Teknaf-St Martin, one Cox’s Bazar-St Martin and another Chattogram-St Martin waterway.
-B