Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina asked Monday government officials to gear up the ongoing efforts for removing spilled furnace oil from the rivers Shela and Pashur to protect the mangrove forest Sundarbans from further damage.
The directive of the PM came during her video conference with officials of Gopalganj and Jessore districts and concerned divisional commissioners at the Cabinet Division on the day. It was the second video conference of the PM with the district officials.
"The PM has asked the officials to handle the safety matter of the Sundarbans very carefully and more closely," Cabinet Secretary Muhammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told newsmen after the regular weekly cabinet meeting at the Bangladesh Secretariat.
The PM presided over the meeting at the cabinet division on the day.
The cabinet secretary said the PM asked the government officials to open other alternative water routes to carry goods to and from Mongla port.
He said the PM discussed in details with the officials the execution of the development projects, performance of the government, law and order, local problems, campus situation and gave necessary guidelines and directives to bring dynamism in activities of the local administration.
At present the vessels are now travelling seven to eight kilometres more through the Sundarbans to reach the Mongla port as the usual route has been remaining closed due to siltation for a long time.
The government has already asked the Ministry of Shipping to dredge the Ghashiya Khal and evict the shrimp projects obstructing the flow of the Ghashiya Khal.
The council of ministers sent back on the day (Monday) the draft of 'President Retirement Benefit Act, 2014 to the Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs for more review and scrutiny.
After the meeting cabinet secretary Muhammad Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said that the 1979 ordinance allows all Presidents and their family members to enjoy the benefit of the law. The ordinance was framed during the military rule.
There is a High Court directive to bring necessary amendments to the ordinances of the military regimes or abolish those if they seem not to be effective for the present time.
And for this reason the government has moved to turn the ordinance into a law.
UNB adds: The PM said the sub-canals connected with the Ghashiya Khal became ineffective following setting up of some shrimp enclosures on the channels of those sub-canals. "These shrimp enclosures should be closed down as those are causing hindrance to the flow of those sub-canals," Hasina said.
The Prime Minister said the Shipping Ministry had already been asked to dredge the Ghashiya Khal in the Sundarbans and once dredged properly, the waterway distance to the Mongla Port would reduce by 7-8 miles.
Hasina also directed the authorities concerned so that the project for dredging the Kapatakhha Nad goes well.
talhabinhabib@yahoo.com
