In the first place the conditions of the two strategic bridges over the Meghna and Gumti should not have been allowed to come to such a pass at all. It is simply unacceptable that these two bridges would be in such a state of disrepair that would involve major repair work with the potential of disrupting the direct link between Chittagong and Dhaka for quite sometime.
We wonder why, in spite of the fact that the bridges on major highways in the country, are, or, should be under constant supervision; the condition of the deck of these two has rendered them unfit for use. One would have expected the R&H department to have applied rapid repair facilities to mend any fault on the deck as soon as those had appeared. What is also inexplicable is that scouring around the main piers has not been attended to either, thereby putting both the structures at serious risk. And to allow these two bridges to be used, in spite of the risks involved, speaks of utter disregard for public safety.
The plight that the two bridges has put everybody in, apart from the grave threat to life these pose, has brought out very starkly the lack of foresight in the planning of our communication infrastructure. Most of the roads, and the bridges that span the gaps, become outdated no sooner they are built. Most of these bridges allow for only one way traffic and on any mishap, and there have been several in the past, there occurs long tailbacks stretching over kilometres and lasting for many hours. The width of the roads too soon becomes inadequate to absorb the increased volume of traffic.
Waiting for October, as indicated by the authorities, for the repair work to begin on the two bridges, is much too long a wait. Why must the process for awarding contract take two months? Given the urgency of the matter, cannot the process be speeded up without cutting corners? We would suggest also that in the meanwhile alternative crossing arrangements be made immediately on both the sites and repair work begun immediately, particularly the river bed scouring.
That a racket of hoarders and retailers push up prices of certain food items before and during the month of Ramadan is not new for the consumers in Bangladesh. What is really new, however, is that the commerce minister himself admitted to this despicable trend a few days back. And we felt relieved when he warned all profit-mongers involved with the racket of "stern action" and also assured us of having sent "14 teams to different markets to identify them" while replying to a lawmaker's query in the parliament on July 2. But in less than a week, we are dismayed to see a continuous increase of prices of onions, gram and lentils with the government apparently unable to do anything against the market manipulators.
Unscrupulous hoarders and retailers are coming up with the excuse of the recent flood in the country's southern region as reason behind the hike, which flies in the face of available data confirmed by the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) and Bangladesh Tariff Commission (BTC). Data of latest imports shows that the current stock of onions and gram could meet the increased demand during Ramadan and, therefore, any arbitrary price hike other than the ones fixed by BTC is unjustified, and only for excessive profit-making.
Under the circumstances, we'd like the commerce minister to intensify monitoring of all the markets by employing special teams led by magistrates, and make examples of the racketeers. We think the assurances he gave in the parliament should immediately translate into action.
We also fail to understand why the TCB is operating virtually as a toothless body. In addition to special teams, we think the government would do really well to strengthen the TCB and assign it every year to ensure fair prices at the markets through timely intervention.
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