DHAKA: Terming the river grabbers as Razakars of this era, Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan said the government has ‘zero tolerance’ against those who occupy and exploit rivers.
He made the remarks at a discussion on board a ship in the Buriganga river at Sadarghat in Dhaka on Wednesday (May 23).
A local organization by the name Nongar organized the discussion marking 'Safe Maritime Security Day'.
Shajahan Khan said the Neo-razakars are grabbing and polluting rivers. He warned the polluters saying new law is being formulated to punish them.
The minister also highlighted government initiatives to reduce naval accidents saying that there has been no accident in the last three years. The situation was however completely opposite during BNP ruling.
Mentioning that drives are underway to recover occupied rivers, Shajahan Khan said a total of 1,500km occupied rivers have been recovered already.
“Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman first took the initiative for river dredging and bought 7 dredging machines. Later no government has bought machines to improve dredging. However, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina bought 25 new machines as she came to power. River dredging process is underway in full force”, he said.
BDST: 1820 HRS, MAY 23, 2018
AP/SMS
