The lawmakers in the Parliament on Thursday strongly criticised the communications minister, Syed Abul Hossain, and finance minister, AMA Muhith, for the terrible condition of the country's roads and their 'irresponsible' comments, and asked the communications minister to admit his failure and resign.
Speaking on a point of order, the lawmakers of the ruling Awami League, Jatiya Party, Workers Party, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal and the lone independent member urged the prime minister to settle the dispute between the two above-mentioned ministers who are blaming each other, and to take stern measures against the responsible persons.
Workers Party lawmaker Rashed Khan Menon initiated the discussion by drawing the House's attention to the severed road communication on 12 routes, and accused the communications minister of not paying any heed to the demands of lawmakers in the Parliament on February 5.
'When Tofail Ahmed raised the issue in Parliament on February 5, citing the example of the dreadful condition of the road that crosses Brahmanbaria, the communications minister made insulting remarks about him instead of admitting the reality,' said Menon.
He said that despite the repeated alarming reports by the media, lawmakers and other quarters, the minister remained heedless, resulting in the increase of accidents on the highways, until the prime minister's intervention.
'If any person were responsible for such a situation in any democratic country, he would have resigned,' said Menon.
He also criticised the trading of blame by the finance and communications ministers, and demanded open discussion in the Parliament to ascertain who was really responsible.
Tofail Ahmed said that although he raised the issue in Parliament six months ago, no action was taken other than an assurance by the communications minister that the inter-district highways would be widened to accommodate four lanes.
He said that that instead of discharging their duties, the ministers were now accusing each other to evade responsibility.
He called upon the ministers to settle their disputes in the Cabinet, not publicly.
He also criticised the ministers for making some 'irresponsible' comments like advising the people to refrain from going to the market more than once a week and to take less food.
Referring to a study, he said that 86 per cent of the people feared that there would be a mass outburst in the country if the condition of the roads was not improved.
JSD lawmaker Hasanul Haq Inu blamed the negligence of the communications minister for the awful condition of the roads and highways and said that the lives and properties of the people were no longer secure on the roads.
'The prime minister should find out who is responsible for the situation, whether it is the communications minister, finance minister or chief engineer, and take action against him,' said Inu, adding that the road accidents, price spiral and power crisis had become normal due to the failure of the concerned ministers.
He said that the minister who had failed to do his duty should resign and the prime minister should appoint qualified persons to save the AL-led alliance government from the people's wrath.
AL lawmaker Suranjit Sengupta said that instead of holding a minister individually responsible, it is the Cabinet that should be held collectively responsible. He added that it was unfortunate that the finance minister was trying to avoid his responsibility.
'The prime minister instructed the finance minister to allocate Tk 690 crore for renovation of the roads before Eid, but he set conditions for releasing the fund, which is not acceptable,' he said.
Jatiya Party lawmaker Mujibul Haque said that many people were uncertain whether they would be able to go home before the Eid after seeing that road communications between Dhaka and Kishoreganj had remained suspended for the last 10 days due to the dreadful condition of the highways.
'I want a statement from the communications minister about this,' he said, adding that the minister was responsible for the situation as he had promoted self-confessed corrupt persons to the higher posts of the ministry.
Independent lawmaker Fazlul Azim said that the people had no means to go home during the Eid due to the situation in road and rail communication, and accused the communication and finance minister of being responsible for the situation.
'High-quality people are needed for the big posts, and the prime minister should make changes in her Cabinet, if necessary,' he said, adding that the communications, finance and commerce ministers had failed to discharge their duties properly.
AL lawmaker Tarana Halim said that as per the government's statistics, 38,000 people are killed in road accidents every year, so the government should enact tougher laws to ensure adequate punishment of drivers who are responsible for fatal crashes.
'If any one is pressured illegally to issue 10,000 licences without testing the drivers, he should take the responsibility for any accident in the future,' she said in an emotion-choked voice.
The deputy leader of the House, Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, took the floor and said that the concerned minister should clarify his position.
Communications minister Abul Hossain, in his statement under Section 300 of the Rules of Procedure, said that he had failed to repair the roads because he did not get funds from the finance ministry.
'How can I do my work if I do not have money?' he asked, and expressed sorrow at the death of so many people in road accidents.
At one point of Abul Hossain's speech, deputy speaker Shawkat Ali stopped him and said, 'You should seek the prime minister's intervention to settle the dispute with the finance ministry, but now the House wants to hear something positive from you.'
Abul said that his ministry had asked Tk 5,000 crore for repair and maintenance of the roads, but had received only Tk 690 crore, and that too with some strict conditions that had prevented him from spending the money on an emergency basis.
He urged the finance ministry to relax the conditions so that he could begin immediate renovation of the roads.
'If I am allocated Tk 1,000 crore in due time, all of the roads will be renovated by the end of this year,' he said, adding that they were working hard to repair the badly damaged roads before Eid.
Source : Nge Age
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