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Medical wastes in the capital pose a serious health hazard to residents, hospital staff and waste scavengers because of the negligence of hospitals, clinics, nursing homes, dental clinics and the Dhaka City Corporation.
   The corporation has allotted one acre of land, near the Matuail dumping centre, for accommodating medical waste, but it is unsuitable as it is a low-lying area which is flooded after rain, said a source in the corporation.
   More than 800 government and privately operated hospitals and clinics are producing around 400 tonnes of hospital waste each day, which may cause HIV/AIDS, diarrhoea, skin ailments and other fatal diseases.
   The medical waste includes infectious pathogens in such concentrations that exposure to them could result in disease. It also includes blood, body fluids, tissues, organs, body parts, sharps needles, blades, syringes, scalpels, saws, broken glass, nails and many items that could cause a cut or puncture, along with hazardous pharmaceutical and chemical wastes.
   The percentage of hazardous wastes in the Dhaka city is 15.5 per cent, which is much higher than that of the Netherlands (5 per cent) and Sweden (9 per cent), but is lower than that of Denmark (25 per cent) and USA (28 per cent), and is very close to the rate in Germany (14 per cent), said a report of the World Health Organisation.
   Medical and environmental experts said because of the lack of dumping centres and other logistical support of the DCC, the hospital/clinics have to dispose of their wastes in front of the hospitals, on roadside footpaths and in garbage bins.
   The wastes are then collected by the City Corporation’s vehicles and then transported to the open municipal dumping sites. Therefore, the hazardous medical waste gets mixed up with ordinary garbage.
   A large number of private clinics are housed in renovated residential buildings, and most of them do not have the facilities for adequate waste management.
   There are a lot of alarming reports that body parts are being dumped on the streets before the government hospitals that do not have disposal facilities, a source in the Dhaka Medical College Hospital said.
   The residents of Dhanmondi are the most vulnerable to health hazards because there are more than 250 clinics located in that area.
   The scavengers, comprising mainly the poorest women and children, with bare hands collect the medical wastes like syringes, needles, saline drips, discarded food, gauze and vials. They resell, especially syringes, to drug addicts who re-use them and to dishonest businessmen who clean them and sell them, endangering the health of the people.
   Prism Bangladesh, a non-government organisation, began a project to collect and dump medical wastes. The executive director of Prism, Anisur Rahman, said, ‘We primarily began the project in Wards 49 and 57. Around 40 clinics are located in Ward 49 and Dhaka Medical College Hospital is in Ward 57.’
   The hospitals and clinics require a hygienic system to dispose of the wastes, said the environment expert.
   Azizul Haque, chief health officer of DCC, told New Age on Thursday that the DCC has allotted land to dump the medical wastes and will also establish four modern medical waste management centres around the city as soon as possible.
   Liquid hospitals wastes are disposed of directly in the municipal sewerage system by most of the hospitals in Dhaka. Chemicals used in hospitals are a dangerous cause of water pollution, said the WHO report.
   Direct disposal of the faeces and urine of patients infected with contagious diseases in the sewerage system may cause outbreaks of epidemics.
   The Bangladesh Private Clinic and Diagnostic Centre Owners’ Association’s president, Maniruzzaman Bhuiyan, told New Age that the disposal of such hazardous wastes from hospitals into the public waste disposal system exposes the people to serious health risks.
   He also said the members of the association are eager to solve the problem in cooperation with the DCC.

Cop beats rickshaw puller, takes away
Tk 10,000 found on Khulna road
STAFF CORRESPONDENT, Khulna

A policeman allegedly beat up a rickshaw puller and took away Tk 10,000, which the rickshaw puller had found on the road near the Khulna police station crossing Thursday morning.
   The rickshaw puller, Akhtaruzzaman, 25, of village Hatbas under Tala thana in Satkhira, went to the Khulna Press Club and informed the newsmen of the incident.
   A policeman, who was standing at the police station main gate, took him to the thana duty officer’s room, he said, alleging that the duty officer took the bundle and told him to go away.
   When he asked the officer if he would announce it in the city through loud speaker, the officer and another constable beat him, he also alleged.
   Sub-inspector Mahibul, the duty officer, told New Age on Thursday he got Tk 10,000 from the rickshaw puller and it would be submitted to the court.
   ‘I did not beat the rickshaw puller, but another rickshaw puller beat him to have a share of the money’, he added.

Passenger launch owners, extending the deadline for meeting their demands, have agreed to continue operating vessels on the circular waterway for another month as the government has assured them of subsidies and compensation.
   Earlier, the Bangladesh Inland Waterways (Passenger Carriers) Association had expressed its inability to continue services due to passenger shortage and other problems.
   According to sources, the launch owners agreed to extend the deadline as the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority assured them that the berthing tax and taxes would be reduced, and also subsidies would be provided.
   Mohammad Badiuzzaman Badal, senior vice chairman of the waterways association, said the shipping minister and the water transport authority requested them to carry on operations at a meeting with association leaders on May 11.
   He said, ‘If the government does not fulfil its commitments and meet the association’s conditions, we will have to stop our services after one month.’
   According to the association, the owners have to burn Tk 3,000 to Tk 7,000 worth of fuel to run a launch between Sadarghat and Ashulia via Aminbazar. But they hardly get any passengers.
   The new circular waterway around Dhaka cost Tk 50 crore — Tk 36 crore for terminals and Tk 14 crore for dredging.
   The prime minister, Khaleda Zia, inaugurated the waterway on March 3 with the aim of reducing traffic jams in the city.
   Some owners provided about 10 to 12 launches for plying the waterway. But citing different problems in continuing the operation, they provided fewer launches than pledged and began the service later than the scheduled date.
   Reportedly, operations began 12 days after the inauguration. Although the route is maintained by the government through the water transport authority, it does not ply any of its own vessels on the route.
   Chairman of the association, Giasuddin Al-Mamun, said roads to the landing stations have not been developed, for which passengers are unable to avail themselves of the waterway.
   He added that contrary to its commitment the government did not conduct any awareness campaign to popularise the waterway.
   He alleged that dredging of the route, carried out at a cost of Tk 14 crore, was not done properly. The route is not conducive to vessels’ movement, he said.
   Earlier, in memorandums submitted to the shipping minister and the chairman of the water transport authority, the launch owners said they incur heavy losses on the route because of insufficient number of passengers.

Robbers looted cash and valuables worth Tk 3.2 lakh and a firearm from the house of a former army captain at Rajab Ali Sardar Lane under Shyampur in the capital early Thursday.
   Family sources said about 12 robbers stormed into the house of Zahurul Haque Pathan, a general manager of the Sarkar Filling Station, at 59, Rajab Ali Sardar Lane, while Zahurul suddenly fell sick and most of the family members took him to nearby clinic at around 1:45am.
   The gang confined rest of the inmates in a room at gunpoint and looted Tk 1.7 lakh, 10 tolas of gold and a loaded point 22 bore rifle.
   A patrol team of the Shyampur police station rushed to the spot and chased the gang.
   The gang opened fire and hurled bomb on the police.
   Sub-inspector Tajul Huda and an unidentified rickshaw puller sustained bullet injuries.
   But the gang managed to flee with the booty unhurt.
   Tajul was admitted to Rajarbagh Police Line Hospital while the rickshaw puller to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.
   Asaf Uddin, a daughter-in-law of the victim, filed a case with the Shyampur police in this connection.
   Sub-inspector Saidur Rahman, duty officer of the Shyampur police station, told New Age, ‘We launched several drives to nab the criminals and our four teams, including the special team, are hunting for them in different parts of the city.’

Elections to the Barisal unit of the Bangladesh Medical Association was postponed for the second time Wednesday night after negotiations between groups of the ruling party candidates failed.
   Fresh schedule and date of the election was not declared till Thursday evening.
   Local observers said it would be very difficult to conduct the elections without negotiations among official and rebel candidates of different groups of the ruling party.
   The opposition parties, who have boycotted the election, have extended support to rebel candidates of the ruling party, they added.
   Aziz Rahim, re-elected president of the BMA unit unopposed, said the election to the unit was first scheduled for May 5 and was postponed on April 30 after a case filed by a member over constitutional complexity about the increase of district secretary posts from four to six in the newly amended constitution.
   The election was again scheduled for May 26 but Golam Mustafa, a newly appointed internee doctor, applied to the unit president to include students of batch 30 in the voter list although he joined the service on April 16 but deadline for inclusion in the voter list expired on March 5, 2005.
   Rahim, however, sent the application to the BMA election commission with his recommendations.

A suspected extortionist was stabbed by his accomplices over toll distribution at Khilgaon in the capital Thursday evening.
   The victim was identified as Korban Ali, 25, of Shahjahanpur.
   A gang of extortionists indiscriminately stabbed Korban at the Khilgaon Rail Crossing at about 6:45pm after an altercation over toll distribution.
   He was taken to Dhaka Medical Hospital where doctors were performing an operation till 10:30pm.
   The police said Korban was a member of an organised extortionist gang.

the Chittagong Water Supply and Sewerage Authority’s water supply has decreased by almost half due to shortage of electricity.
   While there is additional demand for water because of the hot temperature, the water agency is unable to even meet the regular demand.
   Commenting on the crisis, the deputy secretary of Chittagong WASA said they normally supply about 3.8 crore gallons of water every day but they managed to supply only 1.45 crore gallons on May 11.
   The water crisis is likely to prevail for the next three to four days, he added.
   Sources in the water agency said all the pumps of mode 1 and 2 including Mohra and Bahaddarhat booster remained closed. The Mohra plant could not supply any water since May 11.
   Compared to the estimated daily demand of 11 crore gallons, the water agency normally produces only 3.80 lakh gallons.

Florence Nightingale’s birthday, also known as International Nurses Day, was celebrated at Apollo Hospital Wednesday morning.
   The day began with a ‘peace run’ by the nurses in the hospital campus. The nurses then lit candles in front of Florence Nightingale’s portrait.
   Later, they renewed their oath of Hippocrates, conducted by Dr Rosalind Conway, director of the Nursing Services.
   The nurses vowed to do their duties efficiently and with dedication. They promised to keep dignity of their profession, help physicians sincerely and devote their lives to the welfare of the patients.
   ‘Every year the International Council for Nurses sets a theme to commemorate this day,’ said Rosalind. This year the theme was ‘nurses for patient safety: targeting counterfeit medicine’.
   The nurses will lobby for the patients to get safe drugs and they will be trained to recognise counterfeit medicine as well.
   The nurses later on cut a cake and sang ‘We shall overcome’. The Medical Services director, Dr PB Pawar, was also present on the occasion.
   A cultural programme, followed by dinner, was held for the nurses at their hostel later in the evening.

Body of BCC staff recovered
The body of Md Ripon, 26, a staff of the electricity department of the Barisal City Corporation, was recovered from the seabed near the Kuakata coast at around 3:00pm on Wednesday. Family members said Ripon went to the Kuakata sea beach with friends on Tuesday. At about 11:00am on Wednesday, Ripon with other friends went to the sea to take a bath. He was swept away by the current.
— New Age

Call to slash mobile phone rate
The Citizen Rights Movement on Thursday demanded that mobile call charges should be reduced to fifty paisa per call. It also demanded permanent SIM identity for users and criticised Teletalk’s cyber distribution of SIM cards. The movement convener, Tushar Rehman, told a press briefing at the Dhaka Reporters’ Unity that if Teletalk brings call charge to fifty paisa, other operators will be forced to reduce their rates.
— New Age