Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Monday urged city corporation officials and employees to work sincerely to make the capital clean, healthy and liveable, at least for the sake of their own children, saying waste and poor sanitation are among Dhaka’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) Nagar Bhaban headquarters, said the PM’s Deputy Press Secretary Hasan Shiplu.
Emphasizing the need to keep the city clean for the sake of children's future, Tarique said no parent would want their children to grow up in a dirty, germ-ridden and unhealthy environment.
Children do not stay only around their homes; they also go to schools, colleges, playgrounds and other parts of the city, he said, adding that efforts to keep Dhaka clean must extend beyond individual neighborhoods.
“Your children will not stay only in your neighborhood. They will move around the whole of Dhaka. So, let us all try together. If we make an effort, we can do it,” Tarique said.
About waste and poor cleanliness issues in the capital, he said the problems could not be solved in a day or even in seven days, but sincere and sustained efforts by everyone could gradually improve the situation.
Addressing city corporation officials and employees, the prime minister said they are directly or indirectly involved in resolving the problem.
“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 resolving problems, saying he regularly looked for problems wherever he went and contacted the relevant people to address them.
“If you also observe problems in this way and take steps to solve them, change is certainly possible,” he said.
Citing London as an example, the prime minister said many parts of the British capital were also littered during the 1960s and 1970s. Still, sustained efforts and public awareness gradually improved the situation.
Many people who visited clean and well-maintained cities abroad might have wished Dhaka could be like them, he said, adding that regret alone would not bring change unless people also fulfilled their responsibilities.
Referring to a recent conversation with a senior official of a South Korean company that has been doing business in Bangladesh for a long time, Tarique said the official told him that Dhaka’s cleanliness improved somewhat 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,” the Prime Minister said.
He also said he regularly monitor the condition of roads and waste management across the city.
Some road dividers are being rebuilt, while condition at some waste transfer stations has improved to a certain extent, he said, stressing the need to continue such initiatives.
Tarique urged officials and employees to practice self-criticism alongside criticism of 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, the prime minister 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.
He also enquired about how the information was monitored and how officials tracked emergency situations.
Tarique monitored the city's cleanliness activities through a Facebook Live broadcast and watched a video on the development and various activities of Dhaka South City Corporation.
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.
