Fatah, Hamas come together
Spirit of unity should produce result
It is certainly the best piece of news Palestinians have had in a long time. The willingness on the part of Fatah and Hamas to come together in the interest of unity holds forth, even though it has been late in coming, the imperatives before the Palestinians. In these past few years especially, the concept of a free state of Palestine has repeatedly been subjected to assaults by Israel and, ironically, by the disunity of the Palestinian leadership itself. The kind of democratic politics which a few years ago seemed promising for the region simply went into reverse when an elected Hamas government was dismissed. In 2007, the seizure of political control in Gaza by Hamas, with Fatah retaining authority in the rest of Palestinian territory, only darkened an already murky situation.
That it took the two leading Palestinian political forces four years to come to an understanding on the formation of a transitional unity government is surprising, given that the absence of such unity in the last four years has emboldened the hawkish Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu in giving short shrift to all Palestinian demands made by the government of Mahmoud Abbas. The unity which has now formally been announced cannot have pleased the Israelis. The Netanyahu government has made it unabashedly clear that Fatah must make a choice between peace with Hamas and peace with Israel. That is the height of absurdity. The Israelis have till now spurned every Palestinian offer of a reasonable settlement and have never seen it necessary to call a halt to new Jewish settlements on Palestinian territory. Such an attitude not only undermined Abbas but also helped increase public support for the radical views of Hamas.
The Fatah-Hamas understanding should, despite Israeli discomfiture at the move, lead to a detailed road map to elections in Palestine as well as a national consensus on the nature of a future Palestinian state. For Israel and its supporters in the West, the unity move should, more than being a warning, be an opportunity for a serious getting down to the business of making peace in the Middle East.
Safety at construction sites
Need to enforce building codes
Failure to provide construction workers at high-rise structures with necessary safety gears has again led to the death of some three workers from a 7-storey building at Basundhara city in the capital.
It was another instance of total disregard for human life by the employers of these workers who were trying to remove an old lift without any safety equipment to protect them from fall. It was as though death waiting for them.
The Safety and Rights Society, a non-governmentsal organisation (NGO) in a report said that in 2010 alone some 142 workers died at construction sites in the country. And looking at the number of deaths from fall from tall buildings at the Dhaka Medical College morgue, experts on the subject believe the total annual casualty figure might be still higher.
For ensuring safety at the construction sites, the government in 2006 framed the Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC). But there was no step to enforce the code. The High Court (HC) on October, 2010 issued a rule on the government to establish Bangladesh National Building Code Enforcement Authority in order that the safety related rules are implemented. Strangely, a copy of that HC order is yet to reach the authorities concerned. So, without the enforcement tooth the BNBC has virtually remained on paper.
As a consequence, the employers or their supervisors find no urgency to provide the workers with the basic
precautionary measures like anchor belts, canopy or
protective scaffolding at the construction sites, especially at tall structures.
They are as risky as they were decades back. And what is of still greater concern is that the construction workers, who are mostly unaware of a lurking danger, commit fatal
mistakes. And after death or injury, the employers in most cases do not feel the need to help victim's family with any
compensation.
In the circumstances, we urge the government to first take immediate steps to enforce BNBC codes and form a construction safety monitoring body. These measures, it is hoped, would ensure safer working environment for construction workers.
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