Narayanganj Mayor Ivy renews pledge to evict hawkers from footpaths

Hawkers in Narayanganj cannot run their businesses on footpaths, Mayor Selina Hayat Ivy has said once again.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 23 Jan 2018, 09:36 AM
Updated : 23 Jan 2018, 11:29 AM

Speaking to the media in Dhaka on Tuesday, after she was released from hospital, Ivy said the footpaths of her city are meant for the public.
 
“A four-storey building will be constructed for the hawkers and they will move in there. My message is clear the hawkers will run their businesses in the Hawkers’ Market.”
 
 She described last week’s fierce clashes between supporters of her and Awami League MP Shamim Osman as ‘the victory of peace against weapons’.
 
“I am a tested soldier of Sheikh Hasina. I do not need to prove myself time and again. I am a dedicated worker of the Awami League. I am a fighter, a leader,” Ivy said in a clear reference to Shamim Osman.
 
Tension was running high in Narayanganj after the city corporation moved to drive away roadside vendors, when MP Shamim sided with the hawkers and threatened with dire consequences.
 
On the afternoon of Jan 16, the city’s Chashara turned into a battlefield as a fierce clash broke out when a procession led by Mayor Ivy went to the area.
 
Several gun-toting men were spotted during the clash, including Niazul Islam Khan, who is known to be a henchman of MP Shamim.
 
Ivy, vice-president of Narayanganj district Awami League, says Shamim wanted her killed and sent one of his henchmen while the MP says Niazul used his licensed firearm only in self-defence.
 
On Jan 18, Ivy was hospitalised in Dhaka after she suddenly fell ill in her office. After being treated for four days at the Labaid Hospital, she was released on Tuesday.
 
An apparently confident Ivy told the media that the people of Narayanganj were with her.
  “I am responsible for the city and its residents will not accept some unauthorised person’s comment. That was not the case in the past and will not be in the future as well. The residents will decide how the city will operate.”
 
The mayor thanked Narayanganj citizens for “saving her from armed assaults”.