The banner over the main gate reads "Tree Fair 2024" in large letters, yet only one of the 39 stalls at the fair sells saplings. The forest department says it did not organise the fair; the upazila administration says the fair belongs to the forest department and it is only providing overall support. Local representatives and concerned citizens say they cannot accept such an event in the name of a tree fair.

The 15-day fair is being held on the central Shaheed Minar ground of the upazila parishad in Gosairhat, Shariatpur, under the banner of the forest department and the upazila administration. It began on 1 July and is due to end on 15 July. Traders have set up 39 stalls selling snacks, cosmetics, children's toys and rides. In one corner of the fair sits the only sapling stall, a nursery called "Mannan Nursery".

The upazila administration says stallholders pay no rent. But many traders say they will have to pay the organising committee Tk 1,000 a day, give or take.

Around the fair, the main part of the ground and the rest of the space are taken up by stalls selling fuchka, chotpoti, pickles, cosmetics and knives and bonti blades. Most visitors crowd around these stalls to shop, while the sapling stall draws few people. From morning to noon, the sapling stall had not sold even Tk 2,000 worth of plants, while the other stalls averaged Tk 7,000 to Tk 8,000 in sales.

Md Anwar Hossain, who sells knives and bonti blades, said: "The fair is supposed to run for 15 days. So far nobody has collected any rent from me, but we will have to pay. The owner of the rides and a few others are in charge; they will collect rent from us and hand it over to the organisers."

A stallholder who did not want to be named said: "Sales are low because of the rain. We have to pay the organising committee Tk 1,000 a day in rent. If we don't sell, we won't make much after paying the rent."

For children's entertainment there is a ghost house at one side of the fair. Its employee, Fazal, said: "We sell tickets at Tk 40. It entertains children, and we sell more than Tk 10,000 a day. I don't know anything about rent; the owners know that better."

Md Mannan Howlader, owner of the only nursery at the fair, said: "My main nursery is in Madaripur, but I also have a garden in the West Kotapara area of Shariatpur. A tree fair with only one sapling stall doesn't look good. Other nursery owners were asked to come, but they didn't."

Visitor Monir Hossain said: "Hearing it was a tree fair, I thought there would be many plant stalls. But with only one sapling stall, there are hardly any plants. Looking at this fair, it seems like a trade fair."

Fazlur Rahman Dhali, former chairman of the Gosairhat upazila parishad, said: "The other day I saw the UNO having stalls built on the ground for the fair, but I did not know what kind of fair it would be. A tree fair is supposed to sell saplings. What kind of tree fair has just one nursery! This is shameful and sad for the people of Gosairhat upazila. This can never be a tree fair."

Asked about the fair, district forest officer Md Salah Uddin said: "We have not organised any tree fair in Gosairhat. I have heard that the nursery owners' association organised it together with the upazila administration. Besides, we have no budget right now to hold a fair."

The upazila administration, however, says the forest department organised it. Gosairhat Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Ahmed Sabbir Sajjad said: "The forest department organised the fair; that is written on the main gate. The upazila administration is giving it overall support. And there is no question of collecting rent. Why would there be rent for holding a fair on a government ground?"

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.