Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Tuesday said the government will provide all necessary assistances to the victims of the devastating fire that gutted around 8000 shanties and injured four persons at a Mirpur slum here on Monday.
“Over 3.6 tons of rice and Taka 10,00,000 have been allocated as immediate assistances from the government. The Deputy Commissioner (DC) has been asked to enlist the victims as soon as possible to facilitate the rehabilitation activities,” he told newsmen after visiting the fire-gutted slum at Mirpur-12 here.
Quader, also Awami League General Secretary, said investigation is underway as a three-member committee headed by Deputy Director of Fire Service and Civil Defence Debashish Bardhan was formed to probe the incident with a directive to complete the investigation within seven working days.
Earlier, the minister along with party leaders and workers, met the victims at the Ilias Ali Mollah Slum. AL Relief and Social Welfare Secretary Sujit Roy Nandi, Dhaka City North AL General Secretary Sadeq Khan, local lawmakers Ilias Ali Mollah and Aslamul Haque, were present on the occasion.
Replying to a question of newsmen, the AL General Secretary ruled out any understanding between the government and the BNP over Begum Khaleda Zia’s bail.
Quader said the court has given five-year imprisonment to Khaleda in Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case while the court also granted a four-month interim bail to her.
“The government has no role here,” he said, adding that it is the court’s jurisdiction whether it will allow Khaleda’s housemaid in jail and give permission to hold a meeting with BNP’s standing committee members.
The AL General Secretary said BNP becomes happy when their party chief gets bail and becomes disappointed when their leaders are convicted.
About the next polls, the minister said they have information that BNP has secretly been taking preparations for the next parliament election since long.
