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Speakers at a seminar on Sunday said that the number of labourers in the informal sector has increased considerably in the last few decades but they are still being deprived of the benefit of any health and safety measures.
   They said the informal sectors like the garments and construction industries, export-oriented shrimp farms, hotels and restaurants and ship-breaking yards have recruited lakhs of labourers in the last few years but they do not maintain any health and safety measures for the workers.
   A few health and safety measures have been taken in some of the garment factories, according to the international laws and requirements of the buyers, but they are not sufficient for the large number of workers who are mostly the women, they added.
   Physicians for Social Responsibility and Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon jointly organised the seminar on ‘Workers’ Health Rights and Safety’ at the National Press Club in cooperation with the National Health Rights Movement.
   Professor Mozaffer Ahmed, president of BAPA, was the chief guest at the programme. He said industrialisation started in the country in ‘60s in a separate township, where workers reportedly enjoyed those facilities under the labour law.
   But the garment and other industries in the informal sector were developed mainly in the urban and semi-urban areas without the proper working environment which is important for workers’ health and safety, he added.
   ‘However, the garment factory owners’ association [BGMEA] is talking about compliance with the buyers’ requirements of labour safety and benefit and proper working environment and other things in the factories for the sake of their own business, but these are still not sufficient as only 10 medical centres have been established for the huge number of garment factory workers,’ said Mozaffer.
   He suggested that the garment factory owners’ associations should use the BISIC industrial areas for setting up more factories with proper facilities for the workers. ‘We have to think of how the industries can become eco-friendly 10 to 15 years later,’ he added.
   Health service means not only treatment for a particular disease but is the combination of the means of assuring the good condition of both body and soul, and should be combined to benefit both, Mozaffer asserted.
   Anwarul Alam Chowdhury, president of the BGMEA, said the garments industry canot survive without maintaining compliance and building eco-friendly factories.
   ‘We have to improve our factories for the sake of our own businesses,’ said the BGMEA’s president. He sought the government’s cooperation for institutionalising this sector. ‘We had to learn many things by and large for institutionalising this sector to compete in the overseas markets.’
   Nasrin Bina Shikdar, researcher of the Jatiyo Sramik Jote Bangladesh, made some suggestions in the keynote paper she presented at the seminar.
   She stressed the need for health insurance for the workers of all formal and informal sectors; sufficient arrangement of first-aid treatment, fire service equipments, ambulances in all factories; provision of safe drinking water; and separate toilet facilities for men and women workers.
   Shirin Akhtar, president of Karmajbi Nari, Wajedul Islam Khan, Dr ATM Saleh and Dr Rashid Imam addressed the audience, along with others.

A general diary was filed against the three-dimensional seismic survey conducted by Chevron Bangladesh at Lawacherra national reserve forest in Moulvibazar.
   Junayed Ahmed Chaudhury, the range officer of the ‘Silviculture Research Centre’ under the Bangladesh Forest Research Institute, filed the GD with Srimongal thana on Saturday (May 3) night. The GD’s number is 105.
   It is the second GD filed by Junayed Ahmed Chaudhury in this regard. Earlier, he had filed another GD (No 1279)
   with Srimongal police on April 28.
   Chaudhury told New Age that the Silviculture Research Centre is doing forest research at Lawachhara Reserve Forest.
   He has information that the wells dug for Chevron’s 3D seismic survey will explode within a day or two, and the explosion(s) may be extremely harmful to the forest and the wildlife that lives in it. So he wanted to ensure the security of the forest by filing the GD.
   He added that Chevron’s wells have been dug in the area under the Silviculture Research Centre’s research.
   Chaudhury said that the Chevron’s 3D survey was brought to his attention on April 26, and they were not informed officially of Chevron’s survey in the reserve forest.
   He said that he had filed this GD with the police because the centre fears that the research area, environment, flora
   and fauna, experimental garden land, office and residences of the centre’s staffers and the villages of the indigenous Khasia people may be damaged.
   The harm done to the forest and wildlife will probably be incalculable.
   A copy of map of the Lawacherra Reserve Forest has been included with the GD, copies of which have also been forwarded to the Divisional Forest Officer (Silviculture Research Department) and the director of the Bangladesh Forest Research Institute in Chittagong.
   The duty officer of the Srimongal thana confirmed the filing of the GD.

The government should immediately start the proposed dialogue to end the political impasse and restore business confidence, economist Atiur Rahman said in Dhaka on Sunday.
   ‘The chief adviser should address the nation immediately and clarify the plan of action to resolve the political crisis,’
   the Unnayan Shamannay chairman said at the quarterly luncheon meeting of the Bangladesh Leasing and Finance Companies Association.
   The country’s business environment has been dogged by fear factors and the future is still uncertain, he added.
   Businessmen take long-term decisions after considering socio-political, regulatory and legal environments, and regain the confidence after they get a clear picture of the socio-political framework for next few years, he said in his presentation on ‘State of the Bangladesh Economy.’
   ‘Bangladesh economy has suffered a heart attack and it is now in intensive care unit,’ Atiur said.
   The growth would be 5.7 to 5.8 per cent in the current fiscal, the development economist said.
   Rising food prices, eroding business confidence, natural disasters, poor implementation of annual development programme and global high price syndrome are the main reasons for slower growth rate, he explained.
   Food inflation would remain a concern even after having a bumper boro crop, as the country will not have any major rice crop in next six months until aman harvest begins in December, he warned, stressing that the government should have sufficient food grains in buffer stock.
   The government should take measures for the lean period which has already begun in Chittagong Hill Tracts and would be seen in the northern region in October, he suggested.
   He blasted the double standards of multilateral lending agencies like World Bank and International Monetary Fund, which consistently advised the government to have lower food stocks.
   ‘The government does not have the policy sovereignty,’ he lamented.
   Countries like India, Pakistan, Malaysia and Indonesia have five-year plan, but Bangladesh abandoned the idea for reasons best known to the government, he said.
   ‘The country should go back to five-year planning regime for ensuring continued development works, and abandon PRSP or any other policy prescribed by lending agencies,’ he said.
   The upcoming budget should be agriculture-friendly as prices of rice, wheat and other essentials are increasing in the international market, he said.
   ‘In some cases it is the question of availability, not the price, as some major rice producing countries have already banned export of the staple,’ he said.
   The public-private sector cooperation is needed to implement the annual development programme, he said.
   ‘If public sector spending goes up, the private sector automatically increases its investment,’ he explained.
   BLFCA president Anis A Khan said 29 financial institutions were working in the country offering different types of products for the development of the country, he said.
   Chief executive officers and high officials of leasing companies attended the programme.

The Anti-Corruption Commission is likely to sue Kazi Faruk Ahmed, chairman of the well-known NGO Proshika, and others within this week for alleged misappropriation and giving scholarship to kinsmen ‘in breach of rules’.
   According to ACC sources, inquiry reports of both the cases have already been submitted to the commission, recommending the filing of the cases against Kazi Faruk, his son and others for misappropriating the money illegally transferred from Proshika Computer Systems and giving scholarship to his children by breaching the set rules.
   Subject to the approval of the commission, the cases are likely to be filed within this week.
   A case will be filed against Kazi Faruk, his son and Proshika Computer Systems chief executive officer Kazi Rubayet Ahmed and two members of the Proshika Computer Systems trust — Motiur Rahman and Badrudozza Swapan — for misappropriating Tk 1.03 crore after illegally transferring the amount from the account of the Proshika’s computer wing.
   Another case will be filed against the Proshika chief and others for giving $24,000 scholarship to his son Kazi Bulland Musabbir and daughter Kazi Rifat Zabin from Proshika’s foreign-currency account by breaching the conditions of the Bangladesh Bank.
   Proshika executives Mahbubul Karim, David William Biswas, Yusuf Ali Miah and Standard Chartered Bank senior official Mirza Aminur Rahman are also going to be accused in this case.

The community radio network could give the marginalised people of the country access to information and thus play immense role in the development of particular communities, speakers at a daylong international seminar said on Sunday.
   They said the prospect of the community radio was that it could give voice to the voiceless people, but the rules and procedures of the licensing system should have provisions to ensure that the ownership of the information really remain within the community.
   Singapore-based Asian Media Information and Communication Centre arranged the seminar in collaboration with United News of Bangladesh, UNESCO and Bangla-desh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication with the theme ‘Peoples Voices, Peoples Participa-tion and Community Radio’ at the conference room of UNB.
   Information secretary jamil Osman was the chief guest at the inaugural session of the seminar, chaired by Syed Margub Morshed, former chairperson of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission and also a former secretary of the government.
   The inaugural session was addressed, among others, by AMIC secretary general Indrajit Banerjee, UNB chairman Amanullah Khan, UNESCO Bangladesh representative and director Malama Maleisea and UNDP assistant country director KAM Morshed.
   AMIC Head of Research Kalinga Seneviratne gave the keynote address of the session, titled ‘Overview of Community Radio across Asia: Opportunities and Challenges’. Speaking as chief guest, Information Secretary Jamil Osman said the present caretaker government, as part of its series of reforms, has formulated and announced the Community Radio Policy on March 12.
   The information ministry invited applications from the organisations interested to obtain license to install, broadcast and operate radios within specific communities, he said. ‘We’ve received a huge response from our community stakeholders.’
   A regulatory committee, a national monitoring committee and a technical sub-committee have been formed, the information secretary said.
   The committees, he said, would scrutinise the applications and select the successful applicants, provide guidance to them for installation and broadcasting of community radios, and monitor their operational activities.
   Welcoming the government’s decision to allow community radio in the country, UNESCO director and representative Malama Meleisea said the main focus of the community radio is access to information, thus empowering the people, especially the marginalised ones.
   ‘Subsequently, the focus of community radio also lays on the control of information… Who is going to make all the decisions…’ he said. Meleisa said the actual ownership of community radio should not be left to the hands of the mainstream media owners. Rather, the ownership should be given to the marginalized people of a particular community.
   The seminar had three plenary sessions and one panel discussion. The first plenary session titled ‘Mobilizing Communities for Community Radio’ was addressed by SM Shameem Reza, assistant professor of Dhaka University, and Vinaya Kasajoo, director of Centre for Media Rights of Nepal, with M Rafiqul Alam, chairperson of BNNRC, in the chair.
   UNDP assistant country director KAM Morshesd described the three aspects of community radio network as its prospect and challenge, and ensuring the licence to appropriate people.
   He said the way the community radio network was being implemented in Bangladesh and the initiatives the government is taking in this regard should be viewed on a long-term perspective.
   ‘The ownership of the information is really critical… rules and procedures should be clarified… The current radio licensing doesn’t have provision of a cooperative society oriented ownership.’
   Morshed called upon the government and the NGOs concerned in the locality to assist the simple people like farmers and fishermen to really apply for the licence of community radio and get the substantial assistance to get it.
   ‘The move to open up the radio broadcast media down to the community level represents a most significant development in Bangladesh media landscape. It is hoped that the community radio will help foster democracy and lead to empowerment of communities in Bangladesh,’ UNB chairperson Amanullah Khan told the session.
   The process of democratization would be strengthened if community radio could be harnessed to the services of communities, he said, adding that the community radio would echo the people’s voices and ensure their participation in the community affairs.
   Khan said, ‘New opportunities will now be presented to explore radio broadcasting as a development tool and as an aid to the realisation of the poverty alleviation goal.’
   He added: ‘With the minimum investment by the broadcasters and the affordability of radio sets to the common man in a country facing resources constraints like Bangladesh, community radio offers the highest return in terms of access to information and the motivational and inspirational values to the listeners majority of whom happen to be unlettered.’
   Wrapping up the opening session of the seminar, former BTRC chairperson Syed Margub Morshed said community radio network was an empowering device and its contents could bear the people’s right to being informed.
   ‘The device can empower the people. It can preserve the local identities. It conserves the cultural diversities and pluralism,’ he said, adding that the community radio enhances democracy and transparency, and strengthen the people’s right.
   Chaired by head of research of Asian Media Information and Communication Centre Kalinga Seneviratne, the second plenary session on ‘How to Make Community Radio Popular’ was addressed by station manager of Radio Sagarmata of Nepal Ghamaraj Luintel.
   The third plenary session titled ‘Radio, Internet and digital Technology Connecting Communities’ was addressed by Kapila Gamage, community radio consultant from Sri Lanka, with Seneviratne in the chair.
   The panel discussion titled ‘Voices, People’s participation and Community Radio’ was addressed by CMR director Vinay Kasajoo, Brian Shoesmith, director of school of social sciences, University of Liberal Arts, Bangladesh, and Sri Lankan community media consultant Kapila Gamage. Deputy director (liaison and research) of Bangla-desh Betar Faroha Suhrawardy presided over the session.

Syed Ashraf, a former lawmaker, language veteran and former general secretary of the National Awami Party, died of prolonged illness at a city hospital Saturday night.
   He was 78, said a press release. He survived by his wife, only son and a host of relatives and political admirers to mourn his death.
   Ashraf, also an organiser of the war of independence, served in jail in 1950 and 1952 during the language movement, and also in 1965 for his role in anti-Ayub movement. He was elected member of the provincial assembly from Baufal in 1965.
   The first namaj-e-janaza of Syed Ashraf was held at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad after Zuhr prayers on Sunday. Speaker Jamiruddin Sircar and leaders of different political parties attended the janaza.
   After the janaza, Sircar, Khandaker Delwar Hossain on behalf of the BNP and Abdul Hamid on behalf of the Awami League placed wreaths at his coffin.
   Leaders of different political parties, socio-cultural organisations, professional groups and student orgnisations paid rich tributes to Ashraf when his body was brought to the Central Shaheed Minar Sunday morning.
   Ashraf will be buried at his village Dhulia under Baufal upazila of Patuakhali district today.

An expatriates’ rights body has demanded that about 60 lakh Bangladeshis living abroad should be enrolled as voters in recognition of their huge contributions to the country’s economy and development.
   The Foundation for the Welfare of Expatriate Bangladeshis on Sunday also demanded arrangements for bank loans at 4 per cent interest for overseas jobseekers to help them meet travel and processing expenditures.
   All financial transactions related to overseas job processing and travels should be made through banking channel to make the financial dealings with private recruiting agencies transparent and documented, the foundation leaders suggested at a press conference in Dhaka.
   They also sought quick assistance from Bangladesh’s missions abroad when non-resident Bangladeshis face legal hassles during their stay abroad.
   Foundation leaders M Abdur Rahman, Jamal Uddin Khalipha, Ruhul Amin, M Shah Alam, Riad Arman Kabir, Mohammad Hossain Anik and Mohammad Harun Or Rashid spoke at the press conference.
   They demanded doubling of flight frequency between Dhaka and Riyadh, and setting up of a passengers’ shed near the Saudia Airlines’ lone office in Dhaka.

An Indian Khasia man killed a Bangladeshi young man in the Companiganj frontier in Sylhet on Sunday.
   The deceased was Kamal Hosen, 22, a resident of Kalairag in the upazila of Sylhet.
   Local people said Kamal along with his two minor siblings was tending cows near the border at Kalarag on the Bangladesh side Sunday noon.
   But an armed Khasia man from across the border fired on Kamal without any provocation, killing him on the spot, villagers said.
   The Bangadesh Rifles recovered the body and handed it over to the Companiganj police station. The body was later sent to hospital for a post-mortem examination.

Contractual appointment of Syed Mohammad Shahed as director general of Bangla Academy has been extended for one more year with effect from May 13.
   The establishment ministry issued a gazette notification to this effect on Sunday.
   Besides, the interim administration has cancelled the leave preparatory to retirement of Mohammad Abdul Baki Mia, deputy chief of the chemical laboratory under Criminal Investigation Department.
   He was appointed on contractual basis for one year, according to another official order issued on the day.

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