Make Dhaka liveable for children
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Monday urged city corporation officials and employees to work sincerely to make Dhaka clean, healthy and liveable, saying waste and poor sanitation remained among the capital’s biggest problems.
“Forget about everyone else. Let us build a healthy environment and a healthy city for our own children. Let us all work together towards that goal,” he said.
The prime minister made the call while exchanging views with officials and employees during a visit to Dhaka South City Corporation’s (DSCC) headquarters at Nagar Bhaban, according to his Deputy Press Secretary Hasan Shiplu.
Emphasising the need to protect children’s future, Tarique said no parent wanted their children to grow up in a dirty, germ-ridden and unhealthy environment.
He noted that children travelled beyond their neighbourhoods to schools, colleges, playgrounds and other parts of the city, making it necessary to extend cleanliness efforts across Dhaka.
The prime minister acknowledged that waste management and poor sanitation could not be addressed in a day or even within seven days. However, he said sincere and sustained efforts by everyone could gradually improve the situation.
Addressing the officials and employees, he said they were directly or indirectly involved in resolving the problems.
“It may take time, but if you keep trying, change will come. You must have that confidence. The most important thing is the willingness to act,” he said.
Tarique also urged officials to take greater responsibility for identifying and addressing problems. He said he regularly looked for problems during his visits to different places and contacted the relevant people to resolve them.
Citing London as an example, he said many parts of the British capital had been littered during the 1960s and 1970s, but sustained efforts and public awareness had gradually improved the situation.
He said people visiting clean and well-maintained cities abroad might wish Dhaka could be similar, but change would require everyone to fulfil their responsibilities.
Referring to a recent conversation with a senior official of a South Korean company that had operated in Bangladesh for a long time, Tarique said the official had observed some improvement in Dhaka’s cleanliness compared with the past.
“He did not say there has been a big change. He said it has improved somewhat. That means change is possible. If we all work together, we can do even better,” he said.
The prime minister said he regularly monitored road conditions and waste management across the capital.
Some road dividers were being rebuilt, while conditions at certain waste transfer stations had improved to some extent. He stressed the need to continue such initiatives.
He also called on officials and employees to practise self-criticism rather than only criticising others.
“You may criticize me, but you must also examine yourselves. Think about how properly you are performing your duties and how much effort you are making,” he said.
Earlier, Tarique visited the emergency operations centre at Nagar Bhaban, where he reviewed websites displaying weather information, earthquake updates from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), wind speed, flood forecasts and air quality data.
He also enquired about how officials monitored the information and tracked emergency situations.
The prime minister monitored the city’s cleanliness activities through a Facebook Live broadcast and watched a video on DSCC’s development and activities.
State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam, DSCC Administrator Abdus Salam, Dhaka North City Corporation Administrator Shafiqul Islam Khan Milton and Local Government Division Senior Secretary Shahidul Hasan were present.
