Many lawmakers of the ruling Awami League-led alliance are now facing public rage and humiliation due to the terrible condition of roads and highways in their areas.
Talking to The Daily Star, they narrated how people are annoyed with them for their failure in the last two and a half years in fulfilling the pledge of keeping the road network in shape.
People are already aggrieved by the price hike of commodities and desperately trying to cope with the situation on their own. Now, the poor condition of roads appears to be a huge threat on their livelihood due to the severely disrupted communication network, observed a good number of members of parliament (MP).
"The condition of the 20 kilometres of road in my constituency is so bad that I avoid using the roads fearing public wrath," said Anwarul Ashraf Khan, Awami League (AL) MP of Narshingdi-2.
Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, AL MP of Dinajpur, said, "We raised the issue of poor road condition in parliament several times, but the communications minister did not pay heed to us. Now, the country's 14 crore people are disgusted and have raised their voices."
"If the situation is not improved any time soon, people will hold the entire government responsible for the failure," said Chowdhury, also an organising secretary of AL.
Zafar Iqbal Siddiqui, Jatiya Party MP of Nilphamari-1, said the condition of the highway between Domar upazila and Nilphamari district headquarters is so bad that people do not shift any serious patient to district hospital using the road.
"Every day people ask me what I am doing about the battered road condition. Helpless, I stay put at home when I visit my constituency; just to avoid people's criticism," Siddiqui said.
In the last three days, The Daily Star randomly talked to 50 MPs of 44 districts over the phone seeking to know people's reaction in their respective districts and constituencies.
The districts are: Gazipur, Tangail, Mymensingh, Netrakona, Kishoreganj, Jamalpur, Manikganj, Narayanganj, Narsingdi, Rajshahi, Pabna, Sirajganj, Naogaon, Natore, Bogra, Thakurgaon, Dinajpur, Rangpur, Kurigram, Nilphamari, Lalmonirhat, Gaibandha, Panchagarh, Chuadanga, Jhenidah, Kushtia, Jessore, Magura, Narail, Bagerhat, Khulna, Satkhira, Barguna, Patuakhali, Pirojpur, Jhalakathi, Sylhet, Habiganj, Brahmanbaria, Comilla, Noakhali, Chittagong, Cox's Bazar and Bandarban.
Almost all of the MPs that The Daily Star contacted expressed severe resentment over the poor performance of Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain and his ministry.
They said with the rise in commodity prices and shortage of power, the battered condition of roads and highways will tarnish the image of the government.
The inter-district bus operators have already suspended their service indefinitely on Dhaka-Mymensingh and Dhaka-Tangail highways protesting severely battered road condition.
The suspension came ahead of the Eid-ul Fitr triggering sufferings to people of at least 12 districts who use the routes for communications with the capital.
The Hatikumrul-Bonpara route of Dhaka-Rajshahi highway and Barisal-Bhola-Laxmipur route is teetering on the brink of a collapse.
MPs belonging to AL and its alliance components Jatiya Party, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal and Workers Party said people are continuously pressing them for an explanation for the failure in repairing roads.
"I feel helpless. I don't know where to go and who to ask to repair the dilapidated roads in my constituency," said Anwarul Ashraf Khan, AL MP of Narshingdi-2.
In a frustrated tone he narrated his hectic effort in the last one year to draw attention of the communications minister to carry out the repair works.
The parliamentary proceedings of last two years are the major evidence of how MPs have pursued the communications minister for urgent repairing of roads in their districts and constituencies to ensure people's safe movement.
Many MPs personally met the communications minister at his office and issued numerous demand orders (DO) to convince him to do the repairing works.
"The communications minister assured me of repairing the damaged roads every time I met him, but nothing has been done so far," said AKM Mozammel Haque, AL MP of Gazipur-1 constituency.
"The sufferings of people are now taking to a new height due to the sorry state of roads. They are holding me accountable for it. Party's local leaders are also embarrassed with the declining popularity of the government," Mozammel said.
Expressing deep frustration over the road condition in his Kurigram district, State Minister for Land AKM Mostafizur Rahman said, "As MPs and ministers, we don't have any confidence in his [communications minister's] assurances. I believe, the people also feel the same way."
The state minister believes that the communications minister does not have any concern about repairing and maintaining the roads and highways.
Interestingly, the comparatively worse condition of roads in the constituency of Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury in Dinajpur extends some consolation to Jatiya Party MP Hafiz Uddin Ahmed of Thakurgaon-3.
Hafiz Uddin said those of his constituency who travelled through Dinajpur highway do not complain much about the dilapidated roads of his Thakurgaon-3 constituency. The condition of roads in his area is also poor and his hectic efforts too failed to convince the communications ministry to repair them.
Pirojpur-2 AL MP Shah Alam said the road network in his district is not good, but he somehow managed the communications minister early in 2009 and had some repairing works done. "It now gives me a sigh of relief," he said.
But other MPs are not so lucky like Hafiz Uddin and Shah Alam as they have already felt the heat of public anger due to the battered road condition.
AL MP Abdul Hyee of Jhenaidah-1 said big potholes in the roads of his constituency have now turned into such small ponds that on rainy days children bathe there. The local people are furious about this.
"People bash me behind my back and on my face for the failure to meet the pledge of repairing roads. So I decided to stay home. I even cancelled the plan to meet people of my constituency on the occasion of the National Mourning Day on August 15 just to avoid their anger," Hyee said.
Citing the battered condition of highway in his constituency, AL MP Nani Gopal Mandal of Khulna-1 said people of his area are so aggrieved that he became confused whether to visit his constituency during the National Mourning Day.
"But I anyhow came to my constituency to console the people. I don't know how long they would be able to tolerate all the tall talks," he said.
BH Haroon, AL MP of Jhalkathi-1, said the road network of his district is way too bad and the condition of the 30-kilometre highway through his constituency is awful. "The road is like a death trap. People are very angry and frustrated with the situation. I will have to stop visiting my constituency if the situation does not improve soon," he said.
AKM Mayeedul Islam, Jatiya Party MP of Kurigram-3, said, "I am so annoyed by the pouring complaints of people about the road conditions that I am bound to seek his [communication minister's] resignation."
The prime minister must remove the communications minister immediately for his failure, Mayeedul observed.
Matiur Rahman, AL MP of Tangail, said he could not visit his constituency on the National Mourning Day due to disruption of road network. "People of my constituency are in a sense detached from the capital due to the road condition."
"I pursued the communications minister many times in parliament and in his office. Each time he assured me of repair work but did nothing thus far," he added.
Wishing anonymity, another AL MP of Mymensingh district said the condition of Dhaka-Mymensingh road was not so bad even during the Liberation War in 1971, except for some bridges and culverts destroyed in the warfare.
Mujib Ul Haque, Jatiya Party MP of Kishoreganj, said he demanded repairing of the Tongi-Gazipur road several times as most people of his district use the road as a communication network with the capital.
Blasting the communications minister Haque said, "He [communication minister] speaks of many dreams which do not have links with the reality."
AL Presidium Member Obaidul Quader of Noakhali-5 said people are annoyed and they want to see some action. He said condition of the entire road network of Noakhali district is more or less bad.
"The communications minister should not blame other ministry for his failure. People want the government to solve the existing problems discarding ambitious plans," Quader maintained.
Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal MP Shah Jikrul Ahmed of Brahmanbaria-5 said the AL-led grand alliance may face a disaster if it fails to resolve the crisis soon.
"People of my constituency are constantly seeking to know when the roads and highways will be repaired. I keep assuring them. But I think they would soon lose confidence in me as they see no action," Jikrul said, citing the pathetic condition of roads.
"I am tired of answering people's queries about the delay in repairing the roads," said AL MP Ziaul Haque Mridha of Brahmanbaria-2.
Jatiya Party Presidium Member and MP Anisul Islam Mahmud of Chittagong-4 said grassroots-level leaders and people are frustrated at the poor road condition. According to them, getting re-elected in the next parliamentary polls will be a far cry for the grand alliance if it fails to mitigate people's suffering immediately.
Some MPs condemned the lack of accountability of ministers for their poor performance.
Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, ruling AL MP of Dinajpur and chief of the parliamentary standing committee on the foreign ministry, said the present situation suggests there is no accountability of the ministers and they are not punished for their incompetence.
Echoing Mahmood, AL MP Shahiduzzaman Sarker of Naogaon-2 said ministers holding important portfolios do not care much about other lawmakers' voices. "The current situation suggests the ministers are not accountable to the parliament either," he said.
Source : The Daily Star
