Daughter dies as Ctg mayor on flight

Bdnews24.com . Chittagong

Fawzia Sultana Tumpa, daughter of Chittagong city mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, died in Bangkok on Friday afternoon while her parents were on a flight to Thailand to see her, said Mohiuddin’s family members.
‘Her life-support machine was taken off at about 3:30pm [Bangladesh time],’ the mayor’s nephew, Mesbahuddin Chowdhury Nobel, told reporters.
The mayor had just left for Bangkok Friday afternoon to see his ailing daughter, already declared clinically dead by doctors.
Tumpa, an English student at Premier University, Chittagong, was undergoing treatment at a Bangkok hospital for cancer.
Nobel told reporters that a few minutes before Mohiuddin’s flight left, news had arrived that Tumpa had been put on a life-support machine.
‘Just before the Bangkok flight left, uncle Mohiuddin received news that Tumpa had been clinically dead and put on a life-support system,’ said Nobel.
‘A totally shattered soul, he still asked Bangkok to keep Tumpa on the life-support system and left.’
The Thai Airways flight carrying the mayor left Shah Amanat International Airport at about 2:30pm, mayor’s lawyer Ibrahim Hossain Babul told the news agency.
Mohiuddin was accompanied by his wife Hasina Mohiuddin and son Noufel.
Awami League leader Mohiuddin was released on October 8 after being bailed in all the 15 cases against him. He had been detained for a year and seven months.
Following a formal petition, the government gave him permission on October 15 to go abroad.
‘I’m going to Bangkok. I don’t know if I’ll be able to see my daughter alive,’ Mohiuddin told reporters before departure.
Calling upon the government to release all political leaders, Mohiuddin said, ‘Nothing can be gained by persecuting the politicians.’
‘I’ve instructed the Chittagong City Corporation councillors to discharge their responsibilities duly, though I heard that a lot of irregularities had occurred at the CCC while I was away.’
Though freed on bail, Mohiuddin was not allowed to return to his mayoral office. He wrote to the government, asking for a reason.
The government, meanwhile, is weighing the legal options.
‘The mayor’s letter has been forwarded to the law ministry for comment,’ local government adviser Anwarul Iqbal told reporters.
‘The local government ministry will take steps based on the comment from the law ministry,’ the adviser said.
CCC councillor Manzur Alam has been the acting mayor in absence of Mohiuddin.
The mayor faced 22 cases, of which three were quashed by the court and final reports have been submitted for four.

60pc of Dhaka dwellers defecate in open spaces

The urban sanitation system is about to collapse as about 60 per cent of the inhabitants of the capital defecate in open spaces, said sanitation specialist Professor M Mujibur Rahman on Friday.
‘There is hardly any hygienic sewerage system in the country’s cities and towns, including Dhaka. Many people pass their faeces in open spaces, including parks, footpaths and banks of the lakes and canals. On the other hand, the dwellers in many luxurious buildings discharge raw human excreta in those canals and lakes through pipes. Thus there is hardly any difference between them and those who excrete in the open spaces. Taking this scenario into consideration, we can say that about 60 per cent of the capital’s inhabitants release their excreta in open spaces in one way or other,’ said Professor Mujibur Rahman, also a teacher in the BUET. ‘Only 40 per cent of the people here use safe sanitary systems.’
The present sanitation management system, which covers 25 to 30 per cent of the capital, is about to collapse, he said. ‘The sanitation of other cities and major towns is also likely to collapse in the next five to ten years.’
‘We are polluting the rivers and canals by dumping human excreta and industrial waste into them. ‘We cannot afford to allow the waters of the Buriganga, Turag and Balu to become polluted. We have already killed the Buriganga by dumping sewage in it for the last 30 years. This is a grave offence. We must pay for it,’ he warned.
Professor Mujib made the above observations at a discussion with the media people. The discussion was a part of the national programme to observe the ‘National Sanitation Month’ [October] and the ‘International Sanitation Year 2008’. The National Sanitation Taskforce Media Committee [NSTMC] and the Forum of Environmental Journalists of Bangladesh jointly organised the discussion in collaboration with the Water and Sanitation Programme of the World Bank.
Mujib, also convenor of the NSTMC, claimed that they have apprised the government of the worsening sanitation situation. ‘We conveyed our concern to the highest authorities of the government, which includes ministers [of the past governments], advisers [of the incumbent government], secretaries and Dhaka WASA and DCC officials. But I do not see any move to save Dhaka’s sanitation system. Everyone has become apathetic although everything is happening in front of our eyes.’
Professor Mujib, however, claimed that open defecation in the country has decreased from 42 per cent in 2003 to 10 per cent in 2008, especially in the rural areas.
Fewer and fewer villagers defecate in open spaces in comparison with inhabitants of urban areas, he said.
He said there is also a discrepancy in the statistics on the area covered by the sanitation system as the definition of ‘sanitation’ varies. ‘The government is claiming that about 88 per cent of the people use sanitary latrines, but, according to the UNICEF, BRAC and NGO Forum, sanitation facilities are available only to 33 to 39 per cent of the people,’ he said.
He told the media that half of the septic tanks, both in rural and urban areas, are unhygienic.
About 12 million people live in Dhaka city, of whom only 30 per cent enjoy the benefit of the sewerage systems installed and maintained by the WASA in Dhaka.
The National Press Club’s president, Shaukat Mahmud, criticised the interim government for lack of commitment to improve the sewerage system.
He said politicians must include the goal of 100 per cent sanitation as an agendum in their manifestoes for the general elections due on December 18.
The deputy secretary to the Local Government Division, Shamsuddin Ahmed, admitted that a large number of day commuters and floating population in the major cities, especially in Dhaka, has posed a big challenge to sanitation across the country.
The NSTMC’s member-secretary and FEJB’s chairman Quamrul Islam Chowdhury moderated the discussion, and Abdul Motaleb and Shantanu Lahiri of the World Bank, Shirin Hossain and Quamrunnahar of the UNICEF, Milan Kanti Dev of BRAC, and about 10 journalists participated in the discussion, along with others.
They stressed the need to take urgent measures to provide hygienic and environment-friendly sanitary facilities for the floating, landless and homeless people, and also passengers of the land and riverine transport systems.
They also said that strengthening the local government system is also necessary for smooth implementation of sanitation programmes.

Govt warning on milk consumption confuses parents

Consumers, already worried about health safety of their babies living on milk powder, are now in a fresh dilemma as the government ordered a ban on consumption of eight imported toxic milk brands instead of banning their sales.
Most of the milk brands, tested melamine positive, are on sale in the city stores along with many other brands, and parents are finding it difficult to select the safe and suitable ones for their babies.
Media advertisements and shop-owners are claiming that other brands are safe, but the consumers cannot rest upon such claims since the brands are yet to be tested.
Liquid milk supply is far less than demand and most of the consumers have no alternative but to buy one milk powder or other for their babies.
‘Really I am confused. I don’t know which one I should buy for my two years’ old daughter,’ said Shahana Akter, a housewife shopping at New Market on Friday.
Abu Taher, the shop owner, also could not give any good advice to his customers searching for a melamine-free milk brand.
‘Milk sales in my shop declined to less than Tk 2000 a day now from an average daily turnover of Tk 20,000 before the melamine scandal surfaced,’ said Taher, also a leader of New Market Shop Owners Association.
Engineer Reza Ahmed Choudhury, a shopper at Agora superstore in Dhanmondi, Friday said that the government’s advice not to consume certain brands was very much confusing since there was no bar on their sales and no advice about which brands were safe for consumption.
‘It is contradictory again when we see media advertisements in favour of some brands,’ he said.
Emdad Hossian Malek, who heads the market monitoring cell at the Consumer Association of Bangladesh, said such contradictions were adding to the worries of the parents.
‘The government should complete tests of all milk brands and tell people clearly which ones are safe, ordering immediate withdrawal of toxic ones from the stores,’ he said.
Tariqul Islam, a Power Development Board senior officer, said he was confused by contradictory claims.
‘Government advises us not to take eight baby milk brands, while some companies are claiming that their products are melamine-free. And we are puzzled,’ said Tarikul, worried about suitable alternatives for his two sons, aged three and four, who consume tinned milk.
Ishrat Jahan, an officer at Transom Electronics Limited, said she felt just helpless as she could not decide what to feed her tow years and four months’ old son, who used to consume Nido.
‘I went through reports that Nido is melamine contaminated. But my husband shows me the claims of the marketing company that Nido brand is melamine-free,’ said Ishrat.
Mohammad Selim, a drugstore owner at Mahakhali, said he himself was puzzled about the safety of all milk formulas he sells for the newborns.
‘Truly speaking, I cannot say which one is safe, which one not,’ he said.
Kazi Reazi Karim, a retired private sector executive, said that for the past couple of days he had been in desperate search for his village milkman, who supplies fresh cow milk.
‘I am no more confident about any powdered milk for my granddaughter,’ he said.
Sharmin Sumi, an employee at the Standard Chartered Bank, was worried about her one year old son, who consumes Dano brand milk, after reports that the brand contains melamine.
‘I cannot rely on any brand now and fresh cow milk is not available in my area. I don’t know what to do now,’ said the mother.
The government on Thursday warned people against eight brands of imported milk which are tested in the chemistry lab at Dhaka University to have been contaminated by toxic melamine.
A government handout named the milk powder brands — Sweet Baby, Yashli 1 and Yashli 2 sourced from China, Nido Fortified Instant and Anlene from New Zealand, Diploma and Red Cow from Australia and Dano from Denmark — to have been contaminated by melamine.
Chinese brands Sweet Baby, Yashli 1 and Yashli 2 were found to have been contaminated by melamine in lab testing done earlier by the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution and private sector enterprise PlasmaPlus.
‘People are warned not to consume the milk power of eight brands which were tested by the Dhaka University lab to have presence of melamine,’ read the government handout, headlined ‘Ban on consumption of eight milk brands having melamine presence

Protests against removal of baul statues continue to rage on

Protests against the removal of the baul sculptures from in front of the Zia International Airport continue to rage on.
Academics, writers, students, painters, sculptors, performers, artistes and cultural activists again demanded re-installation of the Baul sculptures, created by artist Mrinal Huq, in front of the airport.
They denounced the removal of the sculptures as the government’s craven capitulation to the threats issued by religious bigots who have no respect for the culture of their forefathers and their own country.
That the government is easily intimidated by religious extremists has been revealed by the way it has given in to their threat and the celerity with which it removed the sculptures of Bauls who follow the ideals of Lalan the mystic and lead simple lives, they said.
The Gana Sangeet Sanghati Parishad staged a rally in the premises of the Central Shaheed Minar on Friday to protest against the government’s submission to religious obscurantists. The rally was followed by performances.
The Progressive Students’ Alliance, a combine of left-leaning student bodies, brought out a procession on the campus of Dhaka University in the afternoon and demanded restoration of the sculptures.
Serajul Islam Choudhury, a Professor Emeritus of Dhaka University, said the fundamentalist axis got the chance to debase the culture of the soil because no government in Bangladesh had tried the war criminals in the 37 years of the country’s independence.
‘They want to destroy our local culture and as part of that conspiracy. The bigots, in the name of religion, are protesting against the sculpture that symbolises Lalan and his followers,’ he said.
‘The mystic works of Lalan enrich us with the teaching of humanity and are an inalienable part of our culture. The forces of darkness have begun their battle to destroy our traditions by removing the statues, and if they are not stopped now they will attack all the cultural sites throughout Bangladesh,’ he warned.
Golam Kuddus, general secretary of Sammilita Sangskitik Jote, said the chief adviser, the chief justice and the chief of army staff, who virtually control the government, have said several times that they want the trial of war criminals. ‘Then where is the obstacle? It is not difficult to try them because of the Collaborators Act of 1973. About 11,000 people were identified as war criminals and 700 of them were punished,’ he said.
Writer Jatin Sarkar, vocalist Fakir Alamgir and Gana Sangeet Parishad’s general secretary Mahbubul Haider Mohon also spoke at the rally.
The artistes of the Udichi Shilpi Goshthi, Bibartan and Sargam Shilpi Goshthi also sung people’s songs.
The activists of the Progressive Students’ Alliance began their procession from the TSC and paraded through the campus, chanting slogans, and stopped in front of the Raju Memorial Monument to stage a rally.
Leaders of the cultural organisations said that they would wage a movement if the government did not re-install the sculptures immediately.
Bangladesh Chhatra Union president Khan Asaduzzaman Masum, Samajtantrik Chhatra Front president Fakhruddin Atik, president of Biplabi Chhatra Maitree’s DU unit Hillol Roy, and president of the Dhaka University unit of the Bangladesh Chhatra Federation Luvana Tabassum addressed the rally.
They said it was alarming that the fundamentalists were attempting to destroy the country’s culture and the government was supporting them covertly by fulfilling their irrational demands.
The Bangladesh Chhatra Maitree also brought out a procession on the campus and raised the same demands.