Desk Report
Publish: 11 Aug 2021, 10:57 pm
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader (Photo: Collected)
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader today
said the government will examine whether the collisions of ferries with the
pillars of the Padma Bridge took place repeatedly due to the incompetence of
the ferry masters or those might be acts of sabotage, reports BSS.
He came up with the remark while speaking at a
discussion, organized by Awami Swechchhasebak League, at the auditorium of the
Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh (IDEB) in the capital on the occasion of the National Mourning Day.
Chaired by Swechchhasebak League president Nirmal Ranjan
Guha, the meeting was addressed, among others, by AL presidium member Abdur
Rahman, joint general secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim, Swechchhasebak League
general secretary Afzalur Rahman Babu, and vice-presidents Gazi Meshbaul Haque
Sachhu and Abdus Salam.
Speaking as the chief guest, Quader said: “Why did the
ferries hit (the pillars of Padma Bridge) time and again? Not once or twice,
such incidents occurred four times…we should examine whether those were
incompetence of ferry masters or sabotages”.
He added: “Why would this happen time and again before
the construction work of the bridge project is completed? We need to look into
the matter. There was conspiracy about this project and it is not over yet.”
Quader, also the Awami League general secretary, said
when the World Bank withdrew its funding from the Padma Bridge project, the
construction of the bridge fell in uncertainty.
He said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina decided to
construct the Padma Bridge with its own funding and that is why today the Padma
Bridge is a visible reality.
“Vehicular movement is expected to begin by June next.
Installation of all pillars has already been completed. I am saying this
because the ferries hit the pillars of the bridge four times in the last one
month,” he added.
Replying a question, the AL general secretary said the
government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is a political one, while the
politicians take decisions on any issue and bureaucrats implement those.
“The government is on the right track. Our prime
minister determines all the policies. The government is not dependent on
bureaucrats,” he added.
About the coronavirus pandemic, Quader said it should be
remembered that permanent lockdown is not a solution to coronavirus if the
people are not aware of it.
He said the government is considering reopening all
educational institutions gradually and, therefore, it is urgent to make the
mass inoculation program a success.
Mentioning the brutality of the August 15 carnage,
Quader said Julius Caesar was the first victim of political assassination in
the history of the world.
He said the way William Shakespeare described this
murder, if the English playwright had been alive after August 15, 1975, he
would have described the killing of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh
Mujibur Rahman as the most heinous and tragic murder in the world.
Abdur Rahman said standing by the country’s people
should be the main aim of politics during the ongoing pandemic and “we will
stand by the people by turning grief into strength. If people get peace and
relief, the souls of Bangabandhu and his family members (killed in 1975) will
also get peace”.
Bahauddin Nasim said BNP founder Ziaur Rahman was the
mastermind of the August 15 carnage and the truth has been revealed over the
time.
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