BNP said on Monday that the Awami League government minister were interested more in pocketing the funds than repair the badly damaged roads.
The main opposition party said that the government was making hollow propaganda that it would repair the roads and highways before the Eid simply to mislead the people of the country.
It's a hollow promise to mislead the people, said BNP.
The acting secretary general of the main opposition party, Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, told a news conference at BNP central office at Naya Paltan, that the road communication was never so bad in independent Bangladesh in last 40 years.
He said that the people were worried whether they would at all be able to go home to celebrate Eid with their near and dear ones.
He said that the ruling party men were for a wholesale loot of the road repair and maintenance funds.
Fakhrul said the people are shocked at the government's continued indifference to repair the badly damaged roads and highways even after they cost the lives of noted filmmaker Tareque Masud and journalist Mishuk Munier.
He said that prime minister Sheikh Hasina 'is , as usual, more eager to blame the opposition for the bad shape the roads and highways are in, though BNP had left office more than four and a half years ago.'
Fakhrul said that the badly damaged roads and highways across the country were causing frequent accidents claiming many lives.
He said that more than 100 people died in road accidents in one month.
He said that it was unprecedented in the history of Bangladesh for the owners to keep their buses off the roads due to the unserviceable roads and highways.
He said that the ministers were blaming each other instead of taking the responsibility for their failures.
He said that the people want to know where Tk 1,774 crore disbursed by the Awami League led government for maintenance and repaid of the roads has gone.
He said that the ruling party elements pocketed all the money meant for the repair of the roads and highways.
Fakhrul said that severe criticism from the people as well as from within the ruling party led the Awmi League led government to make a hollow pledge that it would repair the roads and highways before Eid.
It's nothing but a 'hollow assurance' he said.
He said that the scathing criticism compelled the Awami League government to disburse Tk 690 crore for the repair of the roads when the season would hardly allow the work.
It's nothing but an eye wash, he said.
He said that the government was making a hollow promise that it would repair the roads in seven days.
He said that everyone knows that it would be impossible to repair the roads and highways in seven days.
He said road communication remained undisturbed during the tenure of the BNP led government even after severe floods.
He said that the BNP led government had build many roads, highways and bridges worth Tk 12090.51 core between 2001 and 2006.
He said that the people were surprised at the finance minister and the communications minister blaming each other for the sorry state of the roads.
He said that neither the AL led government nor its ministers care for the people's sufferings they were causing.
The ministers of this government are in a shameless competition of shirking their responsibilities prompted senior leaders of the ruling coalition to demand their ouster, said Fakhrul.
He said that the nation had the misfortune of witnessing the communications minister providing an honourable exit to the corrupt chief engineer of roads and highways by allowing him to resign.
Fakhrul called it would be totally irresponsible for the government to issue driving licence without any test.
He said that this government issued 20,000 driving licences without any test and was planning issue 24,000 more driving licences without the tests on pressure from shipping minister Shahjahan Khan.
He called issuing driving licence without the tests as the recipe for cold blooded murder.
Asked about why the opposition was not going for a tougher movement on the issues affecting the people, Fakhrul said BNP was avoiding calling hartals during Ramandan keeping people's sentiment in the view.
He said that the opposition did not want the people to suffer in any way during the Ramadan.
BNP vice-chairmen Abdullah Al Noman, Altaf Hossain Chowdhury, joint secretaries general Rizvi Ahmed and Salahuddin Ahmed were present at the news conference.
Source : New Age
