Hasina seeks power solely to ‘ensure nation’s development’

Mentioning that her government wants peace and security of the people, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said yesterday the continuation of the Awami League government is very much needed for development of the country.“We’re accomplishing the development work as we remain in state power for nine years at a stretch from 2009 to 2017. So the continuation of the government is a must for uplift,” she said.Bangladesh’s next general election is due in late 2018 or early 2019.Sheikh Hasina also renewed her pledge to ensure housing for all, saying that none will remain homeless in the country.“Our policy is clear that there will not be a single person to remain homeless in Bangladesh,” she said.The prime minister said this while laying the foundation stone of the first-ever rental-based flat construction project for slum-dwellers in the capital’s Mirpur neighbourhood.She laid the foundation stone of the project through videoconferencing from her official Ganabhaban residence in Dhaka yesterday.Through the same function, the prime minister laid the foundation stone of the first-ever residential flat construction project on the abandoned houses at Dhanmondi and Mohamedpur in the capital.The premier said the government has contained militancy and terrorism with iron hands.“We want peace and security of the people and we got enough time for development as we won in the 2014 general elections,” she said.Sheikh Hasina said the BNP-Jamaat government stopped all works that the previous Awami League government started in 1996.“The BNP-Jamaat after coming to power in 2001 didn’t take any single work forward...they destroyed everything by plundering,” she said.The prime minister said the country’s development was accelerated as the people cast vote for Awami League in 2014 braving all hurdles.“Bangladesh is now a role model of development...we want to take the country ahead further and we want Bangladesh to be established as a poverty-free developed Bangladesh,” she said, thanking all the people of the country for giving mandate to her party in the last polls.“We don’t want slums to exist in the country as it’s not a matter of pride for any country,” she said.But, she said, the slum-dwellers are also human beings and they have also rights to live with dignity and “it’s our responsibility to protect their rights”.The prime minister said the government is constructing rental-based flat for slum-dwellers all over the country so they could live beautifully with the rent.“The huts are not seen to that extent in villages now and tin-shed houses take place instead of huts...we have been able to do it,” she said.While talking about the capital’s water-logging problem, Sheikh Hasina said this problem has been created due to filling up ponds, canals and other water bodies in an unplanned way.“Water bodies will have to be kept everywhere to remove water-logging as well as protect environment,” she said.Housing and Public Works Minister Engineer Mosharraf Hossain delivered the welcome address at the function, moderated by PM’s Principal Secretary Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury.Housing and Public Works Secretary Shahidullah Khandakar gave an overview on the two projects through a power point presentation.Chief Coordinator on the Sustainable Development Goals at the Prime Minister’s Office Abul Kalam Azad, Senior PMO Secretary Suraiya Begum and PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim were present, among others.Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh, MP, and Iliyas Uddin Mollah, MP, among others, spoke at the function joining the videoconferencing.