AL lawmakers embarrassed
50 MPs tell Star about their ordeal in dealing with public fury over
battered roads
Many lawmakers of the ruling Awami League-led alliance are now facing
public rage and humiliation due to the terrible condition of roads and
highways in their areas.
Talking to The Daily Star, they narrated how people are annoyed with
them for their failure in the last two and a half years in fulfilling
the pledge of keeping the road network in shape.
People are already aggrieved by the price hike of commodities and
desperately trying to cope with the situation on their own. Now, the
poor condition of roads appears to be a huge threat on their
livelihood due to the severely disrupted communication network,
observed a good number of members of parliament (MP).
"The condition of the 20 kilometres of road in my constituency is so
bad that I avoid using the roads fearing public wrath," said Anwarul
Ashraf Khan, Awami League (AL) MP of Narshingdi-2.
Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, AL MP of Dinajpur, said, "We raised the issue
of poor road condition in parliament several times, but the
communications minister did not pay heed to us. Now, the country's 14
crore people are disgusted and have raised their voices."
"If the situation is not improved any time soon, people will hold the
entire government responsible for the failure," said Chowdhury, also
an organising secretary of AL.
Zafar Iqbal Siddiqui, Jatiya Party MP of Nilphamari-1, said the
condition of the highway between Domar upazila and Nilphamari district
headquarters is so bad that people do not shift any serious patient to
district hospital using the road.
"Every day people ask me what I am doing about the battered road
condition. Helpless, I stay put at home when I visit my constituency;
just to avoid people's criticism," Siddiqui said.
In the last three days, The Daily Star randomly talked to 50 MPs of 44
districts over the phone seeking to know people's reaction in their
respective districts and constituencies.
The districts are: Gazipur, Tangail, Mymensingh, Netrakona,
Kishoreganj, Jamalpur, Manikganj, Narayanganj, Narsingdi, Rajshahi,
Pabna, Sirajganj, Naogaon, Natore, Bogra, Thakurgaon, Dinajpur,
Rangpur, Kurigram, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha, Panchagarh,
Chuadanga, Jhenidah, Kushtia, Jessore, Magura, Narail, Bagerhat,
Khulna, Satkhira, Barguna, Patuakhali, Pirojpur, Jhalakathi, Sylhet,
Habiganj, Brahmanbaria, Comilla, Noakhali, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar and
Bandarban.
Almost all of the MPs that The Daily Star contacted expressed severe
resentment over the poor performance of Communications Minister Syed
Abul Hossain and his ministry.
They said with the rise in commodity prices and shortage of power, the
battered condition of roads and highways will tarnish the image of the
government.
The inter-district bus operators have already suspended their service
indefinitely on Dhaka-Mymensingh and Dhaka-Tangail highways protesting
severely battered road condition.
The suspension came ahead of the Eid-ul Fitr triggering sufferings to
people of at least 12 districts who use the routes for communications
with the capital.
The Hatikumrul-Bonpara route of Dhaka-Rajshahi highway and
Barisal-Bhola-Laxmipur route is teetering on the brink of a collapse.
MPs belonging to AL and its alliance components Jatiya Party, Jatiya
Samajtantrik Dal and Workers Party said people are continuously
pressing them for an explanation for the failure in repairing roads.
"I feel helpless. I don't know where to go and who to ask to repair
the dilapidated roads in my constituency," said Anwarul Ashraf Khan,
AL MP of Narshingdi-2.
In a frustrated tone he narrated his hectic effort in the last one
year to draw attention of the communications minister to carry out the
repair works.
The parliamentary proceedings of last two years are the major evidence
of how MPs have pursued the communications minister for urgent
repairing of roads in their districts and constituencies to ensure
people's safe movement.
Many MPs personally met the communications minister at his office and
issued numerous demand orders (DO) to convince him to do the repairing
works.
"The communications minister assured me of repairing the damaged roads
every time I met him, but nothing has been done so far," said AKM
Mozammel Haque, AL MP of Gazipur-1 constituency.
"The sufferings of people are now taking to a new height due to the
sorry state of roads. They are holding me accountable for it. Party's
local leaders are also embarrassed with the declining popularity of
the government," Mozammel said.
Expressing deep frustration over the road condition in his Kurigram
district, State Minister for Land AKM Mostafizur Rahman said, "As MPs
and ministers, we don't have any confidence in his [communications
minister's] assurances. I believe, the people also feel the same way."
The state minister believes that the communications minister does not
have any concern about repairing and maintaining the roads and
highways.
Interestingly, the comparatively worse condition of roads in the
constituency of Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury in Dinajpur extends some
consolation to Jatiya Party MP Hafiz Uddin Ahmed of Thakurgaon-3.
Hafiz Uddin said those of his constituency who travelled through
Dinajpur highway do not complain much about the dilapidated roads of
his Thakurgaon-3 constituency. The condition of roads in his area is
also poor and his hectic efforts too failed to convince the
communications ministry to repair them.
Pirojpur-2 AL MP Shah Alam said the road network in his district is
not good, but he somehow managed the communications minister early in
2009 and had some repairing works done. "It now gives me a sigh of
relief," he said.
But other MPs are not so lucky like Hafiz Uddin and Shah Alam as they
have already felt the heat of public anger due to the battered road
condition.
AL MP Abdul Hyee of Jhenaidah-1 said big potholes in the roads of his
constituency have now turned into such small ponds that on rainy days
children bathe there. The local people are furious about this.
"People bash me behind my back and on my face for the failure to meet
the pledge of repairing roads. So I decided to stay home. I even
cancelled the plan to meet people of my constituency on the occasion
of the National Mourning Day on August 15 just to avoid their anger,"
Hyee said.
Citing the battered condition of highway in his constituency, AL MP
Nani Gopal Mandal of Khulna-1 said people of his area are so aggrieved
that he became confused whether to visit his constituency during the
National Mourning Day.
"But I anyhow came to my constituency to console the people. I don't
know how long they would be able to tolerate all the tall talks," he
said.
BH Haroon, AL MP of Jhalkathi-1, said the road network of his district
is way too bad and the condition of the 30-kilometre highway through
his constituency is awful. "The road is like a death trap. People are
very angry and frustrated with the situation. I will have to stop
visiting my constituency if the situation does not improve soon," he
said.
AKM Mayeedul Islam, Jatiya Party MP of Kurigram-3, said, "I am so
annoyed by the pouring complaints of people about the road conditions
that I am bound to seek his [communication minister's] resignation."
The prime minister must remove the communications minister immediately
for his failure, Mayeedul observed.
Matiur Rahman, AL MP of Tangail, said he could not visit his
constituency on the National Mourning Day due to disruption of road
network. "People of my constituency are in a sense detached from the
capital due to the road condition."
"I pursued the communications minister many times in parliament and in
his office. Each time he assured me of repair work but did nothing
thus far," he added.
Wishing anonymity, another AL MP of Mymensingh district said the
condition of Dhaka-Mymensingh road was not so bad even during the
Liberation War in 1971, except for some bridges and culverts destroyed
in the warfare.
Mujib Ul Haque, Jatiya Party MP of Kishoreganj, said he demanded
repairing of the Tongi-Gazipur road several times as most people of
his district use the road as a communication network with the capital.
Blasting the communications minister Haque said, "He [communication
minister] speaks of many dreams which do not have links with the
reality."
AL Presidium Member Obaidul Quader of Noakhali-5 said people are
annoyed and they want to see some action. He said condition of the
entire road network of Noakhali district is more or less bad.
"The communications minister should not blame other ministry for his
failure. People want the government to solve the existing problems
discarding ambitious plans," Quader maintained.
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal MP Shah Jikrul Ahmed of Brahmanbaria-5 said
the AL-led grand alliance may face a disaster if it fails to resolve
the crisis soon.
"People of my constituency are constantly seeking to know when the
roads and highways will be repaired. I keep assuring them. But I think
they would soon lose confidence in me as they see no action," Jikrul
said, citing the pathetic condition of roads.
"I am tired of answering people's queries about the delay in repairing
the roads," said AL MP Ziaul Haque Mridha of Brahmanbaria-2.
Jatiya Party Presidium Member and MP Anisul Islam Mahmud of
Chittagong-4 said grassroots-level leaders and people are frustrated
at the poor road condition. According to them, getting re-elected in
the next parliamentary polls will be a far cry for the grand alliance
if it fails to mitigate people's suffering immediately.
Some MPs condemned the lack of accountability of ministers for their
poor performance.
Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, ruling AL MP of Dinajpur and chief of the
parliamentary standing committee on the foreign ministry, said the
present situation suggests there is no accountability of the ministers
and they are not punished for their incompetence.
Echoing Mahmood, AL MP Shahiduzzaman Sarker of Naogaon-2 said
ministers holding important portfolios do not care much about other
lawmakers' voices. "The current situation suggests the ministers are
not accountable to the parliament either," he said.
http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=198982
------------------------------------
[Disclaimer: ALOCHONA Management is not liable for information contained in this message. The author takes full responsibility.]
To unsubscribe/subscribe, send request to alochona-owner@egroups.comYahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alochona/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/alochona/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
alochona-digest@yahoogroups.com
alochona-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
alochona-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/