OWNERS of drug rehabilitation centers have difficulty obtaining trade licence due to the government’s dual policy. All the rehab centres under City Corporation areas are currently running operations without valid trade licence. Gazette notification of the Department of Narcotics Control in 2005 said rehab centres have to be situated in residential areas, however, Dhaka North City Corporation is not licensing businesses located in residential areas as per the local government department’s directive under LGRD and Cooperatives Ministry. The rehab centers are not getting trade license from the City Corporations, Environment Ministry, Fire Safety, and Health Directorate. There are 324 drug rehabilitation centres in Bangladesh. Of them, 127 are in Dhaka Metropolitan.
There are 4-7 million drug addicts in Bangladesh and to rehab them in main stream, state care is essential. Such centres are inadequate compared to the number of drug addicts, but the government has no control and support to the rehab centres that pushes well-off people to go abroad with their near and dear ones in search of rehab centres with modern facilities.
Different rehab centre owners said they are facing regular queries and harassment from law-enforcers for not having licence. Rehab centres were established under personal initiatives of some people following their experiences, such centres are yet to develop commercially in the absence of adequate policy support. Owners said the government should monitor the operation of rehab centres and extend support to impart training in capacity development. It has been learnt that a number of rehab centres are using fake trade licence to operate their businesses and obtain other licences from different authorities.
The government and city authorities should take coordinated effort to legalise the rehab centres as the number of drug addictions are increasing due to drug business by top people such as politicians and police. It cannot be stopped. So proper supervision by the authorities engaged for the job must do it. We have among most shameless public servants who do not give public services. They take public money but lack obligation to people. They do not behave like public servants of an independent country.
