PM Hasina irked with tanneries for not moving out of Hazaribagh

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina says that tannery owners have resorted to ‘jiggery-pokery’ so that they do not have to move from Dhaka’s Hazaribagh.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 31 July 2016, 10:48 AM
Updated : 31 July 2016, 10:51 AM

Speaking at the inaugural of the annual tree plantation programme on Sunday, she came down hard on tanners for ‘unnecessary delays’.
 
“We have set up a leather industry zone at Savar and the process to move is on.
 
“But the tannery-owners are delaying without any reason. They have resorted to jiggery-pokery...We do not understand why. This is not right,” said Hasina.
 

After revising deadlines for several times to move, the government had finally fixed Mar 31, after which police have been posted in Hazaribagh to stop entering vehicles carrying raw hides.
On Jun 16, the High Court ordered 154 tanneries in Hazaribagh to pay Tk 50,000 per day as compensation for polluting the environment.
Three business bodies representing the industry moved the Supreme Court against it and the penalty was commuted to Tk 10,000.
Hasina urged all to come forward to help those affected in the floods.
Floodwaters from northeast India and incessant rain have wrecked havoc in 16 northern districts.
The disaster management ministry said on Saturday that it forecasts an improvement in the situation but anticipates aggravation in the middle and southern parts, as water rushes towards the Bay of Bengal.
Speaking on Sunday, the prime minister stressed for ‘necessary measures’ to confront the floods and said that the government has taken several initiatives, including dredging to increase navigation of rivers.
Reminding everybody has a role to protect the environment, Hasina said that Bangladesh has set an ‘example’ for the world with her government’s initiatives to save the environment.   She emphasised on protecting Bangladesh’s bio-diversity and called for stopping felling trees, cutting hills, filling water lands and indiscriminate use of pesticides.
Hasina also said one of the biggest reasons for river pollution is fuels leaking from vessels. “Unplanned urbanisation and industrialisation is threatening the bio-diversity.”