EDITORIAL : THE DAILY STAR, BANGLADESH

           

 

Extortion hindering business

Urgent action needed

Despite government's claim that the law and order is now in a better shape, situation on the ground seems to be otherwise. The way hoodlums terrorised the Jatrabari area of the city in broad daylight on Monday by carrying out armed attack on a gas station and shooting an on-duty member of Ansar to death is an instance of where things have gone wrong.

The irony is the ansar personnel in hot pursuit of the hoodlums, who hurled cocktails and fired indiscriminately at the scene of crime, were hardly a match for the well-armed gangsters. Surprisingly, despite alerting police of the existing threats, only three ill-equipped ansars were deployed to ensure security of the gas station at such a busy intersection of the city.

In fact, the Jatrabari incident of Monday is not just an isolated one. Rather it is the tip of the iceberg insofar as criminality in the capital city is concerned. The criminal trade of extortion is now rampant especially in the older part of the city. The business people are so helpless against the tyranny of the extortionists that they dare not report to the police for fear reprisals. Shockingly, even cops allegedly advise the targeted business people to settle the matter with the criminals.

It cannot be gainsaid that extortion in such a wide scale is a serious impediment to smooth functioning of trade and commerce. And the business people who fall victim to such criminal extortion are forced to either count loss or resort to marking up the prices of their goods and services to offset the loss. Needless to say, the ubiquitous parasites find more pliant victims among the traders in the kitchen market.

The government should pay immediate attention to this particular form of crime that is causing business to suffer and consumers to pay through their noses. And it is not only business, it is also inextricably linked to social peace and citizens' security. Overall, it is a serious law and order issue.

The government's law-enforcement agencies must remain above corruption and act decisively to combat the menace.

Road digging woes

Why not in dry season?

Digging of roads by Dhaka Wasa to lay underground pipes is nothing new, or for that matter any other utility organization doing it. Dhaka Wasa undertakes development projects for the benefit of the people. But the problem is with the timing of the excavation work and its tardy nature.

This paper carried an eye-opening report on laying of storm water drainage pipe in a locality of Mohammadpur in the city yesterday. The story is typical of the usual state of affairs with utility expansion activities in all major cities, contributing to untold sufferings of the people. The project in question was supposed to start in January this year but due to delay in issuing the work order it got underway in April and would continue for another three months.

Tender call, bidding process and issuance of work orders take at least four to five months, the work in the ground takes another five to six months to be completed, which however should not take more than three months. Development projects, such as these, meant for the benefit of the people are avoidable ordeals.

Dhaka Wasa ends up undertaking pipe laying works during the monsoon all due to man made factors. The dug out roads become huge drains where rain water accumulates causing hindrance to work and danger to the movement of pedestrians and vehicles. Heavy rains wash away earth at the site of the digging and affect the buildings. Safety measures like supporting earth by wooden plank is not enough. Moreover, after work is completed the earth remains heaped on the sides, for weeks and months, which were to have been put back to fill the drain.

Entire process of the work from tendering to appropriate finishing has to be managed by a unified single body. Paper work should be conducted in the most professional manner within a reasonable time and the project awarded to the best bidder. The road digging, pipe laying and filling up should be done preferably by the same party. Above all, development projects ought to be taken up only during dry seasons.