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A project to establish river ports at Nowapara in Jessore, Bhairab Bazar-Ashuganj, Bhola, and Borguna has been awaiting government approval for two long years as a committee to evaluate it is yet to come up with its report.
   The committee was formed on August 27, 2006 headed by the joint chief of Planning Commission (Bangladesh Railway) to verify the project components and costs. But, as it is yet to visit the sites selected for the river ports and submit its report, the project cannot be placed before the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council for approval, said an official of the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority. The other members of the committee are representatives of the Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Division of the planning ministry, land ministry, BIWTA, and Bangladesh Water Development Board.
   The BIWTA took the initiative to establish the river ports in 2005 and a project proposal in this regard was sent to the shipping ministry on June 30, 2005.
   According to the proposal, BIWTA will construct a port on each side of the Meghna river at Bhairab Bazar and Ashuganj but they will be considered a single facility named ‘Bhairab Bazar and Ashuganj River Port’.
   The proposed Tk 42.30 crore project includes components of construction of jetties and other allied facilities for smooth berthing of vessels and better landing facilities for passengers.
   The country’s inland waterway network has around 400 launch landing points, but only a few of them have modern landing facilities, said the BIWTA official.
   Failing to get the project approved in the past two years, the BIWTA has taken some emergency steps to meet the pressing needs for port facilities at these four places. It has decided to set up jetties at three places in Nowapara — Nowapara Ghat-1, Nowapara Ghat-2 and Abuler Ghat — with its own funds at an estimated cost of Tk 1–1.25 crore, another BIWTA official said.
   Nowapara, a business hub of the region, is also an important river port as people of a number of cities and towns, including Khulna, Jessore, Meherpur, Faridpur, Satkhira, Magura, and Jinaidah, use it for transportation of goods, he said.
   In Ashuganj the BIWTA has set up a steel pontoon with a wooden jetty to facilitate berthing of passenger vessels. But the access way to this landing point is too narrow, approximately five-foot wide, for safe movement of passengers and numerous cargo.

Civil society members, NGO activists and government officials at a discussion on Saturday called upon the owners of the shrimp processing plants in Khulna to provide their workers with appointment letters.
   The owners of shrimp processing plants, most of which are based in Rupsha area, have employed workers without appointment letters flouting the labour law, they said.
   The Social Activities for Environment, a Khulna-based non-governmental organisation, in cooperation with Manusher Jonnya Foundation organised the programme at a local hotel.
   Media people and workers of the shrimps also participated in the discussion.
   Professor Wahidur Rahman, Professor Zafar Imam, Labour Department, Khulna joint director Md Rezaul Haque, deputy chief inspector Belayet Hossain, advocate Khudrat-E-Khuda, SAE president Khudrat-E-Kabir, executive director Uzzwal Kumar Roy, among others, spoke.
   The speakers urged the shrimp plant owners to immediately give appointment letters to the workers and provide the workers with all facilities as per the labour law.
   They also called for fixing minimum wage for the workers in the shrimp sector and stressed the role of trade unions at the respective plants in this regard.
   Some shrimp plant workers alleged that their employers had given them neither appointment letter nor any identity card.
   ‘Moreover, we have to work for 12 to 18 hours as day instead of eight hours stipulated in the labour law, some workers alleged.
   There are about 20,000 labourers in the shrimp plants in Khulna and 80 per cent of them are women, but wages of male workers are higher than that of the female workers, they said.

Robbers looted valuables from a house at Tongi in Gazipur Friday night leaving one of the inmates killed and others drugged.
   The police said Mitali Akter Hasi, a tenant, invited landlord Abul Khair and his family to a dinner on August 17 at her room in Khartun area and drugged the guests with sedatives mixed with foods served.
   Eight of the members fell unconscious, when robbers, allegedly engaged by Hasi, entered the house of Khair in the dead of night and started looting valuables.
   As Waliullah, 42, who did not visited Hasi’s room, tried to resist the robbers, they attacked him with sharp weapons and took away Tk 40,000, gold ornaments weighing 12 tolas and other valuables.
   They also stabbed a youth, Sohrab, 35, who came to the scene responding to the screaming of Waliullah.
   Waliullah was taken to Tongi Hospital and then to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital where doctors pronounced him dead.
   The unconscious inmates — Abul Khair, 60, his wife Sakhina Akter, 55, sons Jahangir, 22, and Alamgir, 14, daughters Panna, 20, and Nasima Akter Jyotsna, 25, Jyotsna’s husband Waliullah, his mother Fatema, 70, sister Tahmina, 14 — were admitted to Tongi Hospital. Walliullah of village Tetuia in Kachua of Chandpur used to stay in his father-in-law’s house. No one was arrested till Saturday evening.
   Khair’s neighbours said that one Manik, who claimed him to be Hasi’s brother-in-law, would often visit Hasi since she had hired the room on August 17.

Participants in a workshop on Saturday stressed the need for professional theatre to promote human rights towards attaining overall social development.
   Theatre can promote human rights and thus play a bigger role in advancement of the society by addressing social issues, they told the workshop, organised by The Centre for Asian Theatre, a professional theatre group on its premises at Mirpur in Dhaka.
   Hameeda Hossain of Ain O Salish Kendra, Rokeya Rafique Baby of Karmajibi Nari, Shamsul Alam Bakul of Save the Children-Denmark, Mosharraf Hossain Tutul, general secretary of CAT, Asif Munier of Swiss Development Centre, playwrights and theatre activists, Kumar Pritish Baul, Ahsan Reza Khan, Anisur Rahman, Shahadat Hossain, Farzana Yesmin, Abul Kalam Azad, Raihan Akter, Sheikh M Ismail Hossain, and M Chumki, among others, spoke at the function.
   Speaking on the occasion, Hameeda said, ‘Theatre is a powerful tool for social development as it can promote human rights by addressing social issues.’

Four hundred and five farmers at village Tebunia in Pabna sadar upazila were sued Friday night for the August 20 demonstration demanding smooth supply of urea.
   Sub-inspector Humayun Kabir of Kotwali police filed the case bringing charge of violation of the Emergency Power Rules, mentioning names of five farmers — Babul Khan, Muhammed Ali, Mithu, Israil and Helal.
   In the case, Humayun mentioned that the five along with 400 others had attacked fertiliser dealer Sirajul Islam and injured him with sharp weapons for his failure to provide them with fertilise.
   They also put a barricade
   on the Pabna-Rajshahi Highway disrupting communication, the he said.

A convicted prisoner died of cardiac arrest at the prison cell of the Khulna Medical College Hospital on Saturday.
   The deceased was identified as Selim alias Mokaddes, of Mayadharpur village under Jhinaidah. He was in Khulna district jail.
   Jail sources said Selim was admitted to the jail hospital at about noon on Friday after he complained of chest pain.
   He was then shifted to the KMCH following deterioration of his condition and died there at about 10:45am.
   In a road accident, a man was killed on the BIDC Road under Khalishpur police area in the Khulna city on Saturday.
   According to the police, Yunus Mia, 54, was hit by a BRTC bus when he was crossing the road at about 6:30am. He was taken to KMCH where the doctors pronounced him dead.
   The police seized the bus.

Light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty wind is likely at a few places over all the six divisions in the country in next 24 hours till 6pm
   today, said the Met Office on Saturday.
   Moderately heavy to heavy falls are also likely at places, it added, predicting nearly unchanged day temperature over the country.
   Country’s highest temperature 35.7 degree Celsius was recorded on Saturday
   at Syedpur and lowest 24.6 degrees at Dhaka.
   The sun sets in the capital today at 6:23pm and rises tomorrow at 5:38 am.