‘RAJUK working for replacing poor from city’

Staff Reporter :
Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) is working for replacing poor people from the city as the authority is buying land from the poor at a low price and selling it to the rich at a higher price, said Planning Minister MA Mannan.

“Poor people are being displaced and living here and there. It is a matter to see how much RAJUK has done for urban development, and how much it has done to chase away the poor,” Mannan said while addressing an unveiling ceremony of a book named ‘Dhaka Delirium’ at the Local Government Engineering Directorate (LGED) auditorium at Agargaon in the city on Saturday.

“The government is now working to create a poverty-free country and eliminate discrimination across the country. Education and health are giving priority to the development of various infrastructures. The government is working to ensure that the people of the village also get the benefits of the city,” the minister said.

Hossain Zillur Rahman, Executive Director of Power and Participation Centre (PPRC), said that integrated planning outside Dhaka and Dhaka-centric planning should be carried forward together to build Dhaka as a planned city and in this case, the economic benefit should be ensured at the village level.

Adnan Z. Morshed, Author, researcher and Executive Director of Architecture, said city planning should include everyone as it is a complex process and it is not possible to make a grand plan with two or four people.

Farah Kabir, Country Director of Action Aid Bangladesh, said, “Dhaka is now a combination of many characters. This city has become very big. In proportion to the time and demand, many things have been created here, but a friendly environment for women has not yet been created.”

“The number of public toilets is so inadequate that working women suffer greatly in their daily life. We need to be more sensitive about this issue,” she added.