Cox's Bazar int'l airport to woo investment,M Faruk Khan,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

Work to upgrade Cox's Bazar airport into an international one will start by the year end to woo foreign investment, the Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister said on Thursday.

"We plan to have a fourth international airport at Cox's Bazar. We will be able to start construction at the end of this year," M Faruk Khan said at a meeting of Foreign Investors' Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) in Dhaka.

The Minister said they had taken steps to lure investment into the tourism sector in a bid to achieve 7.3 percent economic growth target in 2012-13 fiscal.

As FICCI President Syed Ershad Ahmed said gas and electricity crisis, lack of governance, corruption and political conflicts was scaring foreign investors off, the Minister claimed measures were on to overcome those crises.

He said despite global downturn, Bangladesh could achieve over 6 percent growth in the last financial year. Khan said because of the government's investment-friendly approach, investors from India, Turkey, Japan, Korea and several European Union countries were asking to make investments in Bangladesh.

"In the last three years we have added over 3000MW electricity. Within the next few years we will be able to add another 8000 MW electricity," he said, adding rail and road communications were developed by his government.

"We also showed zero tolerance towards corruption," he told the investors. "You can easily assume it seeing the budgetary allocation for strengthening the Anti-Corruption Commission."

Although ruling Awami League and opposition BNP are arch-rivals in Bangladesh, Khan did not find any big problem in politics.

"We have a vibrant government and a vibrant opposition. I find no problem in politics. Sometimes I am happy to see they (opposition) question the government's decision," he said.

Without giving further details on the new international airport, the Minister said they also had planned to upgrade international airports in Chittagong and Sylhet to facilitate foreign tourists.

"We have plans to have a second runway and third terminal of the Dhaka international airport. We will also overhaul domestic airports," he said.

The FICCI leaders said with natural beauty and unique hospitality of the people, Bangladesh had untapped potentials in the tourism sector with over 700 tourism spots.

Currently, aviation activities are carried out by three international and five domestic airports.

To woo foreign investment in tourism sector, FICCI suggested establishment of an international standards beach hotel along with county club, cottage, and conversion of the existing Golf Course in Cox's Bazar.

Establishment of an exclusive tourist zone at Sabrung in Teknaf under Cox's Bazar district has also been suggested.  

BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, 14 others get bail

BANGLADESH NEWS

A Dhaka court on Thursday granted bail to BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 14 others till July 26 in a case filed for blasting two ‘bombs’ at the secretariat.

Judge Mohammad Zahurul Haque of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge's Court granted the bail after their lawyer submitted separate petitions before it seeking fresh bail in the case.

Prior to granting the bail order, the same court accepted their appeal for withdrawal of production warrant filed by Fakhrul and 21 others in the case.

With the acceptance, the court paved the way for Fakhrul and 21 others to be released from jail.

Of the 22 accused, seven were released from jail earlier following HC bail.

Earlier on June 7, the same court issued production warrant against them following a petition submitted by the prosecution.

After the court orders, Advocate Masud Ahmed Talukder, one of the defence counsels, told that there is now no legal bar for his clients to get released from jail.

On May 14, the opposition leaders accused of exploding bombs at secretariat secured an anticipatory bail from the HC till submission of charge sheet in the case.

According to law, the bail will be effective till acceptance of the charge sheet against the accused.

Detectives on May 31 charged the 29 leaders with the blast case.

The case was filed with Shahbagh Police Station against 28 leaders of the 18-party alliance in connection with two bomb explosions at the Secretariat during hartal hours on April 29.

The 14 other leaders who got bail are: Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Sadeque Hossain Khoka, Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Amanullah Aman, Brig Gen Brig Gen (Rtd) ASM Hannah Shah, Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, AKM Fazlul Haque Milon, Sultan Salahuddin Tuku, Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel, Sarafat Ali Safu, Anisur Rahman Khokon, SM Jahangir, Kamruzzaman Ratan and Abdul Matin.

US urges Dhaka to allow refugees,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

The United States has expressed concern over pushing back the Rohingyas seeking refuge after fleeing the ethnic and religious violence in Myanmar and urged Bangladesh to allow the refugees.

“We are concerned that Bangladeshi authorities appear to have intercepted and turned back persons fleeing the ethnic and religious violence in Burma,” said U.S. Department of State Spokesperson Victoria Nuland.

Replying to a question at a daily press briefing in Washington, DC on June 13, the spokesperson said, “So we have been urging the Government of Bangladesh to respect its international obligations under the relevant refugee conventions and to continue its longstanding policy of non-refoulement of refugees.

“We are continuing to make the point to all sides in Burma that it is important to settle these issues not through violence but through dialogue, and to put down their arms and start talking to each other.”

Asked whether this issue has come up now upstairs with the Indian foreign minister as far as situation in Myanmar is concerned, the spokesperson said they did talk about Myanmar and they did talk about the ethnic issues and the Rohingya issues when U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton had her brief meeting with Indian External Affairs Minister SM Krishna before starting the broader Security Dialogue.

25 more refugees pushed back,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

Bangladesh border and coast guards Thursday morning pushed back an engine-driven boat carrying 25 Myanmarese seeking refuge from violence.

The group tried to enter Bangladesh through Teknaf.

The boat was sent back around 7:30am after remaining moored at the BGB post whole night.

One BGB patrol team intercepted the boat as it approached the BGB Shah Pori Dwip observatory post in Teknaf around 8:30pm Wednesday.

Escaping the BGB vigilance, the boat managed to arrive at the post under incessant rain and darkness in the night, BGB 42 Battalion Operation Officer H Kamrul Hassan told .

It travelled along Myanmar border following Teknaf route from Naf confluence, he added.

For the last few days, refugee boats kept coming but the BGB has been pushing them back. Many rights bodies expressed deep concern about the push back.

The border guards remain on high alert as Bangladesh on Wednesday reiterated that there would be no trans-boundary spillover following the sectarian violence in the neighbouring country.

Earlier on Monday, in the face of deadly clashes, the UN released a statement saying it had decided "to temporarily relocate, on a voluntary basis, non-essential international and national" UN staff, affiliated organisations and their families from Rakhine state of Myanmar.

On Sunday, the Myanmar government declared state of emergency in Rakhine state.

Death toll in the violence reached 21 as of Wednesday, Reuters reports.

Tensions between Buddhists and Muslim Rohingyas, a stateless people, turned violent in Myanmar's northwest over the past week, after the gang rape and murder of a Buddhist woman, widely blamed on Muslims, sparked bloody reprisals.

Jamaat leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee set to release on parole,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

Jamaat leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee is to be freed on parole Thursday afternoon to attend the namaz-e-janaza of his son at the capital's Motijheel.

CQK Mustaq Ahmed, senior secretary to home ministry, told that Sayedee would be freed to attend the janaza at 5:00pm.

He said the Jamaat leader would be brought back to prison after performing the ritual.

Sayedee’s another son, Masood Sayedee, told at 4:15pm that they prayed for six-hour parole for his father who is now detained in Dhaka Central Jail but the ministry was yet to free him.

Sayedee's elder son Rafique Bin Sayedee died of a cardiac arrest after he fell sick in courtroom while witnessing his father's trial in the capital on Wednesday.

Rafique, 43, was declared dead at Ibrahim Cardiac Hospital.

Stocks continue losing streak,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

Losing streak continued to reign over the country’s premier bourse on Thursday, last working day of the week.

The DGEN, the benchmark general index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), shed 59 points to reach 4,620 points at the end of the day’s trading.

The prices of 185 issues declined, 47 advanced and 28 remained unchanged.

A total of 1,25,334 trades were executed with Tk 186 crore changing hands.

On Wednesday, the index came down to 10 points to close 4,680 points.

Ashulia garment unrest eases 200 hurt, 150 vehicles damaged, 350 units shut, Tuku chairs tripartite meeting, workers return home,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

Four days of unrest in the readymade garment zone in Ashulia has calmed down following a tripartite meeting among Ha-Meem group authorities, labour leaders and government representatives on Thursday.

Following the meeting, the agitating workers returned to their homes. Police deployments have not been withdrawn from the area, though.

Several resolutions were agreed in the meeting mediated by State Minister for Home Shamsul Haque Tuku, who represented the government.

Contacted, Brig Gen (retd) Mohammad Ali Mondal, director of the project in Ashulia of Ha-Meem Group, told that the workers will receive the increment in demand from July.

The owners will bear the workers’ treatment expenses of injuries incurred during the clashes and their wages for the last four days will not be deducted, informed Mondal.

Also, the workers were promised that the government will monitor so that their house rents in Ashulia do not go up further. Lawmaker Towhid Jong Murad of Dhaka-19 (Savar) will oversee this matter, he added.

Worker leaders told our correspondent that their overtime fees will be increased, but the amount has not been disclosed.

The leaders said they normally receive yearly increments and their wages were never deducted in past incidents of clash, there is nothing unique about this.

They mainly demand a new pay scale. Currently, a garment worker gets between Tk 3,000 and 5,500 a month.

Our correspondent covering the event reports that over 4,000 law enforcers deployed in the area brought the situation under control around 11:00am and the road communications restored fully from 1:00pm.

In the backdrop of the situation, the state minister along with local lawmaker Murad Jong rushed to the Ha-Meem Group premises, from where the violence sparked four days ago, and sat for the meeting.

After the meeting, the minister asked the agitating workers to return to work.

They also appealed to the workers to calm down quoting the prime minister that she herself would look into the matter.

The day's demonstration began around 8:30am when the workers started to come to their factory.

As time passed, thousands of workers joined the agitating groups and the battle field stretched over 3 kilometres from Ashulia Bypile to Nabinagar-Kaliakoir road, said Fayezul Kabir, deputy director of Industrial Police.

At least 200 people including police were injured and production at around 350 garment factories remained suspended as the agitating workers demonstrated blocking the Dhaka-Tangail highway and Ashulia Bypile road, said Fayezul Kabir.

The agitating workers also vandalised 150 vehicles during the clash.

The law enforcers had to fire several hundred rubber bullets and lobbed nearly 200 teargas shells in a bid to disperse thousands of agitating workers.

The demonstration halted traffic movement on the roads for nearly three hours, causing immense sufferings to commuters.

The entire industrial zone turned into a battle ground as workers fought pitched battles with law enforcers demanding pay hike and also protesting police action on some fellow workers Tuesday night.

More than 4,000 law enforcers including Industrial Police, Dhaka District Police, Rapid Action Battalion and Range Reserve Force have been deployed in the whole industrial area to bring the situation under control.

Earlier on Wednesday, Labour and Employment Minister Engineer Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain said all the garment factories in the violence-hit Ashulia will remain open from Thursday.

“All the garment factories in Ashulia will remain open from tomorrow. I call upon the workers to get back to work without fear,” he said after a marathon meeting with leaders of different garment workers federations and law enforcers.

It all began on Monday when about 4,500 workers of Artistic Design Ltd, a packaging factory of Ha-Meem Group owned by FBCCI President AK Azad, took to the streets demanding raise in their wages.

Law to tackle hartal anarchy Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina tells Sangsad,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

The government is taking measures to resist arson and vandalism centring on hartals called by the opposition, said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in parliament yesterday.

Besides increasing police patrol and involvement of intelligence agencies, it will set a plan to maintain law and order during hartal hours, she said. Patrolling of police has already been increased at some sensitive points in the capital and law enforcers have also been deployed to frisk people upon suspicion, Hasina added.

She informed lawmakers that a total of 59 cases had been filed across the country in connection with "untoward incidents" in the recent hartals enforced by the main opposition BNP and its allies. Five people were killed and 83 others injured while 79 vehicles were torched and vandalised during the hartal hours.

The BNP-led opposition enforced a series of hartals across the country after BNP Organising Secretary M Ilias Ali went missing around midnight of April 17 from Banani in Dhaka.

The number of people arrested in the cases so far is 304, 18 cases are under trial and 41 cases are under investigation, she told the House, adding policemen had been given orders to bring people, who were involved in arson and vandalism, under speedy trial tribunal.

SELF-SUFFICIENCY IN RICE

The country has produced sufficient rice to fulfil the demand for this year, the PM told parliament.

"There will be no rice import in the current year," Hasina, also leader of the House, said in reply to lawmakers' queries.

Her government has taken various measures such as reducing the prices of fertilizers and ensuring uninterrupted power supply for irrigation, supply of seeds and other agricultural instruments to achieve self-sufficiency in rice.

In a scripted reply, Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury said the amount of rice produced in fiscal 2008-09 was 326.12lakh tonnes, in fiscal 2009-10 334.03lakh tonnes and in 2010-11 335.41lakh tonnes.

47,672 NEW POSTS OF PRIMARY TEACHERS

The government has taken a project to set up 3,000 private secondary schools, 1,500 colleges and 1,000 madrasas across the country, Hasina told the House, adding 47,672 posts of assistant teachers would be created under primary education development programme.

Another project has been taken to renovate and develop infrastructures of 350 educational institutions in the disadvantaged areas, she said.

Refugee boats keep coming,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

it was past midnight yesterday when a patrol team of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) spotted a fishing trawler approaching on the estuary of the Naf River near Shah Pori Island.

Despite several light signals the BGB men, who were out there to prevent Rohingya influx, could see no human movement or hails in the boat. It was quite difficult for them to get close to the boat as it was moving erratically. When they managed to get close they found no one in the trawler.

But that was not the surprise. As one of the BGB men went for a look in the dark engine room he suddenly noticed movement of tiny hands and legs.

“It was a newborn,” said Maj Saiful Wadud, operation officer of BGB, adding that they had difficulty in squeezing through the narrow space and get the baby out of there using ropes. It took them two and a half hours to execute the rescue.

The baby was in a terrible condition and did not have the strength to even cry, said Maj Saiful.

The BGB men rushed the baby to the nearby Shah Pori Islan border observatory post and provided primary treatment and kept it temporarily under the care of a local fisherman.

Fisherman Kabir Ahmed, a resident of Gholapara village, said hearing about the rescue of a baby he had contacted BGB and requested them to give him its custody.

“I am deeply shocked to see the distress of Rohingya people. I would like to bring up the baby because it would make me feel better that I could do something for a helpless human being,” said Kabir, father of seven.

He said after feeding, the baby got back some strength.

Maj Saiful said they had already informed the higher authorities of the matter and necessary steps would be taken later.

BGB suspects that a trawler carrying Rohingya refugees from Myanmar might have been attacked by robbers and the passengers abandoned the boat leaving the baby behind.

Border and coast guards intercepted five trawlers, including the one with the baby, until 5:00pm yesterday and held 153 Myanmar refugees, who were fleeing the ongoing sectarian clash in neighbouring Rakhine state.

Maj Saiful said the refugees intercepted had told him that one trawler was attacked by robbers in the Naf Tuesday night.

While visiting a trawler carrying 44 intruders and was challenged by BGB near Gholar Char area around 4:00pm yesterday, a 34-year-old mother found with a six-month-old baby also told about robbers' attack in the Naf.

Hosna Begum, the mother, was seen trying hard to get a little space to sit under the plastic roof of the trawler among others to protect her child from rain.

Approached, she said she got detached from her three other children and husband in the face of violent attacks. She headed for a safe shelter in Bangladesh with the infant on Sunday. The rest of the family were now at Sakkipara in Myanmar, she added.

After failed attempts of get into Bangladesh for the last three days they almost reached the coast around 11:00pm on Tuesday when their trawler came under attack of robbers, she said.

Almost all the passengers jumped into the river and she with her son somehow managed to get to the shore, said Hosna Begum.

But her desperate attempt failed again as she was caught by the BGB yesterday morning and was pushed back with the others.

This trawler with 44 passengers attempted to get into Bangladesh on Monday and it had 47 passengers then. Asked what had happened, the boatman said three of the passengers jumped into the river when BGB men spotted their boat. They might have reached the shore safely, he said, adding that they had been trying to enter Bangladesh through different points including St Martin's Island, Teknaf and Ukhiya.

Twenty three out of the 44 passengers were children and many of them were suffering from diarrhoea, said the boatman.

BGB and locals provided the refugees with food, water and saline yesterday as the intruders had to be kept waiting in Bangladesh due to bad weather.

BGB and Bangladesh Coast Guard (BCG) intercepted another boat carrying 30 refugees near the Naf estuary around 7:00am. They brought the boat to a nearby jetty where the guards with the help of locals gave the intruders some dry food, water and saline. The people were pushed back around 12:10pm.

Around 5:00pm, BGB and BCG intercepted a boat with 32 intruders and pushed them back around 7:45pm.

A BCG patrol team intercepted another trawler with 39 passengers at St Martin's Island around 7:00pm. But these people could not be sent back as their boat needed repair and due to bad weather, said Operation Officer of BGB 42 battalion Capt Kamrul Islam.

BGB had detained seven Myanmar nationals during a raid in Jaliapara village of Shah Pori Island, said Kamrul Islam, adding that the raids would continue.

ANM Nazim Uddin, upazila nirbahi officer (UNO) of Teknaf, admitted that some Myanmar nationals had secretly entered into the territory escaping strict vigilance.

Sufferings at Shah Amanat Flight delay forces 271 KSA-bound passengers to stay at Ctg airport for 20 hours,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

As many as 271 Saudi Arabia-bound passengers were stranded at Shah Amanat International Airport for about 20 hours as a Bangladesh Biman flight was delayed due to technical glitches.

The passengers including some 100 women and children had to spend the night at the lounge in a miserable condition until they were accommodated in different hotels at around 3:00pm yesterday.

Most of the passengers of the flight BG-037were on their way to Saudi Arabia to perform Umrah hajj.

Mojibur Rahman, one of the passengers, and his family were totally exhausted as they spent the night sitting in the lounge.

"I was stranded in the airport lounge since 9:00 last night with my wife and child. We could not sleep the entire night," Mojibur complained.

Some of the passengers even slept on the floor, he said.

He added, "The flight was scheduled to depart at 1:30am and we reported at 9:00pm."

Instead of taking care of the passengers, the authorities kept changing the flight schedule for the entire night and also in the day in vain, he alleged.

"They gave us new schedules at 2:30am, 5:00am, 11:30am, 2:30pm and finally 11:45pm [Wednesday], but we are not sure whether we can fly this time," Mojibur said.

Contacted, Dilip Kumar Chowdhury, district manager of Bangladesh Biman, Chittagong, said the flight was delayed due to technical hitches and the passengers have been accommodated in four city hotels."

He said the Biman aircraft, which was scheduled to start from Dhaka for Jeddah via Chittagong, could not fly from the capital.

Among the 314 passengers of the flight, 43 were scheduled to fly from Dhaka. Of the 271 passengers from Chittagong, 219 were sent to hotels and the rest went back to their houses.

Speaking anonymously, an official of Biman headquarters in Dhaka said, "We are not yet sure whether the plane can depart from Dhaka at 11:00pm."

The official added, "We face frequent technical problems as all the planes of Bangladesh Biman are old."

Ashulia industrial zone now battlefield Production in scores of factories stops for third day as garment workers go berserk over higher pay,Bangladesh

BANGLADESH NEWS

The readymade garment belt at Ashulia turned into a battlefield yesterday with production remaining suspended in more than 300 factories, as several thousand garment workers clashed with police for a third straight day.

At least 100 people, including 10 policemen, were injured in the four-hour sporadic clashes. Agitating workers ransacked around 20 factories and vandalised some 100 vehicles.

Agitating workers staged demonstration, putting blockades on Dhaka-Tangail Highway at Narasinghapur halting traffic for about four hours since 8:00am.

The clash erupted around 8:30am when the police charged baton to disperse the agitators.

It all began on Monday when about 4,500 workers of Artistic Design Ltd, a packaging factory of Ha-Meem Group owned by FBCCI President AK Azad, took to the streets around 9:00am that day demanding a raise in their wages.

Thousands of workers from other factories in the area joined them, forcing the authorities to suspend production in more than 100 factories.

However, following two days of clashes, the authorities at a meeting with the labour minister and labour leaders on Tuesday afternoon decided to resume production from yesterday.

But the authorities of Ha-Meem Group and police beat up at least 30 workers of Express Washing and Dyeing, another sister concern of Ha-Meem Group, around 8:00pm on Tuesday, a number of workers alleged.

Moreover, when workers of Artistic Design Ltd came to their factor around 8:00am yesterday, they found it locked, prompting them to take to the streets, witnesses said.

Later, workers of all the other factories joined them, demanding action against those involved in torturing their colleagues and a pay rise, which they had been demanding since Monday.

Police baton-charged, fired 135 rubber bullets and 33 teargas and used water cannons to disperse the workers, who retaliated with brickbats, Fayezul Kabir, deputy director of Industrial Police, told .

Asked about police action on some workers on Tuesday night, Industrial Police Deputy Director Fayezul Kabir said police were forced to take action as the workers of washing unit and dyeing unit were locked in clashes inside the factory.

"They were fighting as one group wanted to join work while another group opposed it", he said, adding: "Then police had to charge baton to disperse them."

Around 3,000 law enforcers, including Industrial Police, Dhaka district police, Armed Police Battalion and Rapid Action Battalion were deployed in the area.

The agitating workers left the streets only when the district administration announced around 12:30pm that the prime minister herself was looking into the matter and that she asked the workers to calm down, witnesses said.

Meanwhile, factory owners in the area yesterday again decided to reopen their units from today upon the assurance that there would be no damage to their factories.

The decision came from a tripartite meeting between the government, owners and labour leaders chaired by Labour and Employment Minister Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain.

A three-member committee was formed at the meeting to look into the cause of frequent clashes in the garment sector, including the last three days' violence.

Brig Gen (retd) Mohammad Ali Mondal, director of the project in Ashulia of Ha-Meem Group, on Tuesday told  that the workers wanted a raise between Tk 1,500 and 2,000.

Currently, a garment worker gets between Tk 3,000 and 5,500 a month.

Mohammad Ali, however, said the issue of pay hike could not be decided by a single company. The issue must be resolved through discussion among all the stakeholders, including the government.

A timely intervention saves them from torture, stigma,Bangladesh

BANGALDASH NEWS

A family at Badlagari village in Sadullapur upazila who was confined to their house due to a so-called religious edict by a few locals, has at last heaved a sigh of relief, thanks to the intervention of the upazila administration.

On May 28, Lucky Begum, 28, wife of Abdur Rashid Mandol, left home for capital Dhaka with family friend Abdus Sattar, following a bitter quarrel with her mother-in-law and stayed in a relative's house in Dhaka, police said. The next day Abdur Rashid brought back his wife from Dhaka.

Saying that the woman had committed adultery, some locals handed them over to Sadullapur police station.

The couple were released from there, as local union parishad member Ashish Kumar Titas submitted an undertaking on behalf of the couple, said Abdur Rahman, SI of Sadullapur police station.

But soon after their release, a few religious leaders decided to bring the couple under fatwa (religious edict) judgment, making locals adverse to the family.

"We virtually remained confined to the house, as local people snapped all kinds of contact with us. On last Friday, a villager beat up my only son Ashiqur Rahman, a student of class one, as he went out of home," said Abdur Rashid.

On Tuesday, Abul Hossain, secretary of Bodlagari mosque committee, called a meeting where a few local religious leaders gave a fatwa, declaring that the couple would have to perform hilla (remedy) marriage and accept the stipulated lashes according to Islamic sharia if they want to stay together.

Informed, Sadullapur Upazila Nirbahi Officer Golam Mowla with a police team rushed to the spot just before the end of meeting. Sensing their presence, many of the attendants fled the scene.

Police arrested Abul Hossain, a retired schoolteacher, Moksuder Rahman Mandol, Mizanur Rahman Mandol and Ranju Mandol from the spot.

They were released under the custody of upazila Awami League President Mozharul Islam after the four people gave undertakings not to commit such an unlawful act in future and, said Abdul Jalil Sarker of Sadullapur police station.

Meanwhile, Abdur Rashid and Lucky Begum said they are still apprehensive of hostile behaviour by locals due to the chaotic situation.