Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday reiterated her firm stance to run the country as per the Constitution since her government believes in democracy.
“The country will run as per the Constitution,” she said when a delegation of the newly-elected office bearers of Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) called on her at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
CCCI president Mahbubul Alam led the delegation while among others, MA Latif, MP, was present in the meeting.
PM’s press secretary Abul Kalam Azad briefed the reporters after the meeting.
Hasina said that as the government believes in democracy, nothing will be done beyond the Constitution.
She said all elections, including local government and by-elections, held under the present government were free, fair and impartial. “No allegation was raised regarding these elections.”
Highlighting various development activities of her government in the last four and half years, the PM said the government is committed to develop the country for the welfare of the people. “After assuming office, we engaged all our efforts for the development of the country for which we were given mandate.”
About the achievements so far made in the power sector, she said when the present government took office, it was found the country’s total power generation stood at 3200 MW only.
Hasina said that during its 1996-2001 tenure, the Awami League government improved the power generation from 1600 MW to 4300 MW.
“But the power generation dropped to 3200 MW as the BNP-Jamaat alliance government and the subsequent caretaker government could not add a single megawatt of electricity to the national grid.”
She said that after coming to power again, the present Awami League government took short, medium and long term plans to strengthen the power situation and raised the power generation to 6675 MW.
The Prime Minister mentioned that the present government has made massive development for the Chittagong port city.
She said the construction work of the second bridge on the river Karnaphuli has been completed and the process of constructing a tunnel under the Karnaphuli has been initiated while the work is progressing fast to make the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway four lane.
The government has taken steps to set up a number of flyovers to ease the traffic congestion of the port city, Hasina said, adding that the government has improved the Dhaka-Chittagong railway tracks and Cox’s Bazar airport.
She said the power situation in Chittagong region improved significantly as her government resolved the problems of Raozan power plant.
The Prime Minister asked the businessmen to compare the development activities of the present government with that of the previous BNP-Jamaat government.
She said the present government took various initiatives to create an environment where investors could invest easily. “We want the businessmen will do their trade and business as per the prescribed rules.”
Hasina requested the businessmen to come up with newer export items to earn more foreign exchange for the country. In this connection, she mentioned that at present, Bangladesh at present is producing 35 items from jute.
She said her government ensured food security for the people as it has constructed a huge number of CSDs and silos.
Mentioning that her government has laid emphasis on research in agri-sector, she said tomato and some other crops are available round the year while steps have also been taken to produce onion round the year.
The Prime Minister thanked the businessmen for their sincere cooperation to keep the prices of essentials at tolerable level during the holy month of Ramadan.
The government has taken various measurers to keep the prices of essentials within the reach of the consumers, she said.
The CCCI delegation apprised the Prime Minister of the completion of the World Trade Center in the port city and invited her to inaugurate it at her convenience.
The Prime Minister accepted the invitation and thanked the CCCI office bearers for completing the World Trade Center.
Source: UNB Connect
