Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal has wished that even his enemies should not suffer from dengue as he himself experienced it severely.
"Even, I do not wish that my enemies suffer from dengue," he said at an august gathering of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in Dhaka on Thursday.
The minister said he could feel the pain well of those who were being affected by dengue or already suffered from it.
He said: "I entered the parliament to place the budget. Immediately after sitting in my chair, I felt a magnitude of pains ... fever and its severity. I felt like huge scale earthquake was in place. At one stage, I left and rushed to hospital for treatment."
The minister's remarks came at a time when dengue fever took a serious turn in Dhaka with lack of seats available in public and private hospitals for fresh dengue patients. The number of new patients are also rising every day.
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There are reports that dengue patients are taking treatment at hospitals and clinics in some divisional cities and district towns.
Earlier on July 18, Mustafa Kamal told the media that he decided to perform official activities at his secretariat office from that day fearing huge presence of mosquitoes at his Planning Ministry office.
"There is a numerous mosquitoes in and around the premises of the Planning Ministry. They (mosquitoes) bit me twice causing me to suffer from dengue and chikungunya last June. I can't bear that again," he told reporters at his secretariat office during an informal briefing.
Mustafa Kamal served as planning minister for previous term of the incumbent Awami League government. After winning the general election on December 30, 2018, he was given the charge of Ministry of Finance.
Even after changing of portfolio, Kamal used to discharge duty at his Planning Ministry office.
"From now onwards, I will attend both the offices. I would prefer the secretariat office until situation improves," he said.
