Community clinics to be reintroduced: Ruhal
BSS, Dhaka

Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr AFM Ruhal Haque said here on Friday the government would reintroduce community clinics aiming at ensuring medical treatment facilities for the rural poor.
Speaking as the chief guest at a discussion and cultural function on the occasion of the birth registration day on July 3, the minister said the reopening of the community clinics is a challenge for the government as the immediate past alliance government closed those.
About 10,800 clinics are now being repaired and every 6,000 people will get medical treatment facilities from a clinic in the rural area, the minister said.
The meeting was held at the Osmani Memorial Auditorium in the morning with additional secretary of the Local Government Division Manjur Hossain in the chair.
The Birth and Death Registration Project under the Local Government Division has organised the programme with the assistance of the United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
Advisor to the Prime Minister Prof Dr Syed Modasser Ali and State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Jahangir Kabir Nanak also attended the function as the special guests.
During the rule of the Awami League government in 1996, the minister said about 10,800 community clinics were established for the rural poor, but the BNP-Jamaat alliance government cancelled the project and turned the clinics into 'the goat development project'.
Ruhal Haque, however, stressed the need for creating awareness among the people to register births and deaths by June 30 in 2010 free of cost up to 18 years of age and Taka 50 for more than the age of 18.
Although the government has enacted 'the Birth and Death Registration Act' in 2004 and implemented the act in 2006, but till March 2009, more than 45 per cent of the total population remains out of the registration coverage, said the state minister for LGRD in his address.
Immunization, schooling and protection are some of the key states and social rights that a child can secure through the birth registration, representative of UNICEF in Bangladesh Mr Carel de Rooy said adding that it can, in fact, protect a child from early marriage, exploitation, trafficking and hazardous labour.
Project director on the birth and death registration project AKM Saiful Islam Chowdhury gave the welcome address.
A colourful rally led by the state minister for LGRD was brought out from Nagar Bhaban that ended at Jatiya Press Club after paraded different city streets.

  Reopening of factories can revitalize silk sector, say speakers

BSS, Rajshahi

Speakers at a meeting here on Friday called for reopening the closed Rajshahi Silk Factory for creating employment opportunities along with revitalizing the traditional silk sector.
The grassroots mulberry and sericulture farmers, they added, would be happy to go back to their ancestral profession if the factory are reopened.
They said Rajshahi Silk Factory could be operational through utilizing its existing machinery and other valuable resources along with an investment of around Taka 10 crore. Bangladesh Silk Board (BSB) organized the meeting at the conference hall of the factory on the occasion of a visit of a three-member parliamentary sub-committee to the factory.
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Textiles and Jute Ministry formed a four-member sub-committee to devise ways and means on how to reopen the closed Rajshahi and Thakurgaon silk factories as early as possible.
Committee convener Abdul Wadud, MP, and members Shafiqul Islam, MP, and Mollah Jalal Uddin, MP, addressed the meeting.
Mayor of Rajshahi AHM Khairuzzaman Liton and Shahriar Alam, MP, addressed it as the guests of honour.
Among others, BSB Chairman Sunil Chandra Paul and its chief production officer Mortoza Reza and silk industrialists Monzur Faruque Chowdhury, Golam Kadir and Merajul Alam also spoke.
The speakers placed emphasis on running the factories using domestic yarn. So, steps should be taken to raise domestic production of yarn, they added.
They said the country produces only 50 tonnes of yarn against the annual demand of 300 tonnes.
Earlier, the sub-committee members went round different sections of the factory and talked to its officials and employees.
Speaking on the occasion, Mayor Liton favoured bringing the factory under the public-private partnership programme and reopening it for the sake of proper utilization of its existing machinery along with creation of jobs.
Taking part in the discussion, private silk industrialists also favoured reopening of the factory and assured of all sorts of cooperation.
Later, the lawmakers visited mulberry seed and miniflature centres under BSB at Meerganj in Charghat upazila.

  Coal import from India through 4 land stations of Sylhet suspended

UNB, Sylhet

Import of coal from India through four land stations of Sylhet division remained suspended for the last two days since Thursday due to government ban on import of coal containing over one percent sulphur.
The ban was imposed on coal import from India through Tamabil, Sheola land stations in Sylhet and Borochara and Charagaon land ports in Sunamganj district, rendering around 25,000 workers jobless and incurring loss to government exchequer.
Sylhet Coal Importers Group Samity sources said coal containing over one percent sulphur was banned as per the import rules of Commerce Ministry in 2003.
But the traders were importing coal having nearly two percent sulphur content following stay on the order for six times. The stay order was also extended for a year in 2008.
As the timeframe of the stay order was over on June 30 coal import from India was stopped on July 1.
Local coal traders said if import of coal is stopped, more firewood will be needed for brick kilns, resulting in increased felling of trees, which is a threat to environment.
They said the brick fields and steel mills depend on imported coal.
Director of Sylhet Chamber of Commerce and Industries and former president of Coal Importers Group Kolonder Ali said Barapukuria and other coalmines of the country could not fulfill the whole demand.
He said if the coal import is stopped it would affect the forest resources. Besides, coal import from Indonesia or Australia is expensive.

  Resumption of School feeding programme in hill districts demanded

BSS, Khagrachari

The people living in the three hill districts especially the social leaders strongly wanted resumption of World Food Programme (WFP) assisted primary school feeding programme here which was suspended on June 1 on complains that a number of children fell sick who ate biscuits under the programme.
The views of the local leaders came up at a series of counseling meetings of the local leaders, administration, school teachers, guardians, WFP high officials heading and facilitating school feeding programme and other concerned quarters as the laboratory tests of the sample of biscuits at home and abroad carried out both by the government and the WFP found that these fortified biscuits are safe and completely fit for human consumption.
Upazila Nirbahi Officer Salim Ullah told this news agencies that the situation had aggravated in Lakhhichhara upazila in the district first from a local model government school mostly triggered by panic.
As an eye witness Salim Ullah said at first two or three children felt stomachache after taking the biscuits which was fed for the first time in the area as part of the emergency feeding programme.
"To me it seems that 'hyper demonstration affect' has created a chaotic situation on that day in the area when children even without taking the biscuits were crying seeing his or her classmates crying," he said.
He said the people particularly in this area might have demonstrated hyper panic reaction because they had very bad experience of death of 23 people after they took eggs of patka fish in 2003.
Participants at the counseling meetings at Mahalchhari said that the children in this area started to feel uneasy when they came to know from their guardians who got the message over mobile telephones from Lakkhichhara.

  KCC launches eviction drive at 22 canals
BSS, Khulna

Khulna City Corporation (KCC) this morning launched a drive to remove illegal structures from 22 canals in the city and its adjacent area on Friday.
The structures at Sabuzbag of Nirala, Nirala Canal, the Mayur river and its adjacent areas of Gallamari are being demolished. Mayor of the KCC Mayor Talukder Abdul Khalek, KCC panel mayor, ward councilors, officers of KCC and members of the civil society, among others, were present during the drive.
According to a press release issued by the KCC public relation officer, a meeting was held on February 5 at KCC auditorium for eviction of illegal occupants from the 22 canals in the city.
Divisional commissioner, DIG of police, KMP commissioner, deputy commissioner, government officials and member of the civil society, among others, were present while the KCC mayor was in the chair.
A 19-member probe committee was formed with ADC revenue of Khulna Mrinal Kanti Dev as convener and KCC budget officer Md Moniruzzaman as secretary general.
Later, the KCC announced the month-long eviction drive at a public function on May 7 on the basis of the recommendations of the probe committee.

  BDR chief calls for restoring order
bdnews24.com, Chapainawabganj

BDR director general Major General Mainul Islam has called for restoring order in the paramilitary border force and reiterated that those involved in the bloody mutiny will surely be put on trial.
"Order should be restored in the battalion. You yourself will have to take the responsibility of your weapons," he said to members at the Darbar Hall of 39 Rifles Battalion at Chapainawabganj during a two-day visit on Friday.
He urged them to become witnesses against those involved in the mutiny on Feb 26-27 when around 50 BDR officers including the chief were killed by renegade members at Peelkhana headquarters in Dhaka.
"BDR personnel are carrying out their duties in the border areas properly. They are also playing an active role in preventing smuggling," the chief said.
The process to reform the force is going on, which includes changing the name force and most of those involved have been arrested after that incident, Gen Mainul added .
On the first day of the visit, he had a meeting with CS Sidhu, sector commander of Maldaha of India's Border Security Force, on the border situation. The meeting was held at Mahdipur in India on the other side of Sona Masjid land port.

  Food Department to get back Halishahar CSD soon for ensuring food security
 
BSS, Chittagong

The Department of Food will get back soon the Central Storage Depot (CSD) at Halishahar in the port city for strengthening the food security in the country.
The process is underway to quickly hand over the facility to the Department of Food from the Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA). The seven-member sub-committee formed to evaluate the current state of the CSD has recommended taking the CSD back to the Department of Food under the Ministry of Food.
The sub-committee headed by Additional Chief Engineer of Public Works Department SM Abdul Kader in its report submitted recently to the high ups after inspecting the establishment.
The CSD, one of the country's largest food storage facilities owned by the Food Department built at Halishahar on 59.28 acres of land, was handed over to the BEPZA for only Taka one during the previous BNP-led four-party alliance government in a bid to turn the place as an exclusive export-oriented industrial zone.
Following the government decision, a big portion of the establishment was either restructured or flattened to pave the way for setting up industries and a number of industries were set up by some local and foreign investors in the meantime.
In the backdrop of changed global scenario, the past caretaker government took the decision to take back the place to its original owner for ensuring the food security and developing adequate food storage facility in the country.
Convenor of the sub-committee Abdul Kader told BSS that they sent the report to the main committee mentioning the present conditions inside entire CSD areas, boundary and security walls, manpower for ensuring safety and security, necessary utility services and construction of residential facilities for officers and employees.
The sub-committee included representatives from PWD, LGED, KEPZ, Food Department and investors.
Abdul Kader said the food storage capacity of the CSD at Halishahar has come down to 46,000 tonnes from the previous level of nearly one lakh tonnes after the BEPZA demolished its 59 godowns out of 94 for preparing the areas for setting up industries.
The BEPZA is now claming around Taka 150 crore as compensation from the Food Department as it spent the money for reshaping the areas for establishing industrial units, S M Kaiser Ali, Regional Controller of Food in Chittagong, said adding that they have a plan to repair the still intact 35 godowns and construct 91 more after receiving the place from the BEPZA.

  English schools in Bangladesh help stop studies in Darjeeling

BSS, Dhaka

There was a time when Bangladeshis used to choose Darjeeling and other places of India for sending their children for schooling particularly in English medium schools.
But, in recent years the tendency has been changed as the Bangladesh government took some positive steps for proper functioning of the English medium schools.
A few years back, the number of Bangladeshi students in Darjeeling, Shiliguri and Kurseong were 10,000 and the guardians used to spend about Taka three lakh per year for each of their children, thereby draining out a huge amount of foreign currency.
But at present, about 6,000 Bangladeshi students are studying in Darjeeling, Shiliguri and Kurseong at over 200 schools, sources said.
Most of the Bangladesh students used to return home on three month's vacation. One could see in Burimari land port in Lalmonirhat several hundred Bangladeshi guardians returning from Darjeeling with their children.
Most of them said they send their children to Darjeeling due to the poor performance of the English medium schools in Bangladesh.
Apu Hakim, a student of class three at Himali Boarding School and College at Kurseong, told BSS that he felt very lonely when he had gone there to stay at the school dormitory.
Mahmuda Sultana Koli, a housewife who lives at Lalmatia here was returning home with her daughter Keya, a student of class eight at Saint Paul's School in Darjeeling.
"It is hard for parents to leave their children at hostels in a foreign land for education. But I have to do so for to ensure better education to my daughter," she added.

  Call to make ‘Eak Gram Eak School’ project a success
BSS, Sylhet

Social Welfare Minister Enamul Huq Mostafa Shaheed on Friday said the government would take massive programmes for providing education and healthcare facilities for the rural people.
He urged the officials of the Directorate of Social Service to take preparations for making the project titled 'Eak Gram Eak School' a success and supporting community clinics for providing services to the doorsteps of the people.
The minister was addressing a views-exchange meeting with officials of Sylhet, Sunamganj and Moulvibazar in the conference room of the deputy commissioner of the district.
Syeda Jebunnecha Haque, MP, and Director General of the Department of Social Service Sitangshu Sen, among others, addressed the meeting with additional district magistrate Mamunur Rashid in the chair.
Enamul Huq said the government has increased the old age allowance to Taka 1,300 crore from Taka 600 crore.
He directed the officials of the department to discharge their duties with utmost sincerity so that all elderly people will get the allowances.
Stressing the need for increasing the social safety net programme, Enamul Huq said, "We have to ensure secure life for the elderly people and disadvantaged children of the country."
The minister also called upon all to work sincerely for preparing an accurate list of elderly and disabled people, and freedom fighters so that they could enjoy the benefits given by the government.

  Compliance of laws can resist environment degradations
BSS, Dhaka

Speakers at a discussion here on Friday said that strict compliance of existing laws can protect environment and halt atmospheric degradations.
"Though there are laws in the country against cutting of hills, felling of trees and encroachment of river banks and water bodies, but in absence of proper execution of those laws environmental degradation could not be stopped," they said.
Besides, they said climate change has become a global issue and a global cry and, as such it should be arrested through international efforts.
The speakers were taking part at a discussion on "Role of Mass Media in Arresting Natural Calamity and Climate Change" organized by Manobadhikar O Paribesh Sangabadik Society (MAPSAS) in observance of International Environment Day at the Jatiya Press Club.
Former Advisor of the caretaker government Dr Akbar Ali Khan attended the function as the chief guest and ex-chairman of Transparency International, Bangladesh (TIB) Professor Muzaffar Ahmed was the main speaker while former Information Secretary Syed Marghub Morshed presided.
Former joint secretary of Bangladesh Awami League Muzaffar Hossain Paltu, Managing Editor of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS), Azizul Islam Bhuyian, former lawmakers Dr. Motiur Rahman and Jamal Hossain, MAPSAS Advisor Bidhut Chowdhury and noted TV personality Kona Reja and Peer of Charmonai Allama Syedi Ridwan- bin-Ishaq were present as special guests. Organization's secretary general Mohammad Golam Rabbani Jamail presented the keynote paper.
Dr Akabar Ali Khan said grave devastations, even more dangerous than economic and natural calamities would engulf the earth unless cry of 'Climate Change' effects and 'Environmental Degrada-tions' could be successfully asserted.
"Bangladesh is passing through a worst ever crucial stage of its history because of the impending threat of climate change," he said. In this connection he referred to possible sea level rise that would render hundreds of thousands of people homeless and made internal refugees in their own homeland.
Prof. Muzaffar Ahmed said the civil society members have started movement for protection of environment from at least 15 years back. But the government did not pay heed to that cry, he added.
He said the people with abject poverty would be the worst- hit owing to environmental degradation although the rich people are much more responsible for environmental pollutions.
In his presidential speech Syed Marghub Morshed said there is no alternative to strict implementation of related laws for halting environmental degradations in the country. He also lauded the role of journalists in creating awareness among the people and the policy planners about the impending danger of climate change and environmental degradations.
The discussions over, Maulana Bhashani Awards and Citations were distributed among distinguished personalities for their invaluable contributions in different disciplines of the national life.