Who to thank for highway development – Hasina or Quader? Manju asks

Water Resources Minister Anwar Hossain Manju has said he is fascinated to see the current condition of the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway after its development to a four-lane one.

He has praised Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader for this but said he does not know which of the two he should thank for the highway’s upgrade.

Both Hasina and Quader were present when Manju was speaking at a programme at the Ganabhaban on Thursday, a day after he was transferred from the environment and forests to water resources ministry.

The prime minister inaugurated a canal renovation and re-digging project in Noakhali through a video call at the programme.

It was the first appearance of Manju, an MP from Jatiya Party (JP), at a government programme after his transfer.

He was apparently not ready to speak about the project. In his around seven-minute speech at the event, he was all praise for Hasina and her government’s development work.

Manju, a son of journalist Tofazzal Hossain Manik Miah, worked as communications minister in HM Ershad’s cabinet from 1988 to 1990 and then in Hasina’s cabinet from 1996-2001.

The Bangabandhu Bridge on the Jamuna River was completed during his term.

By the end of his speech at Thursday’s event, he showered the current government with praises over the development of communication infrastructures.

“When I had travelled from Dhaka to Chittagong, the road was much developed during the prime minister’s tenure. But now when I travel on the same road, I don’t know who to thank – the prime minister or the communications minister – for properly implementing the project,” he said.

In the beginning of his speech, Manju told Hasina, “I have been working under your leadership for nearly 10 years, wherever you’ve posted me. I had also been a minister for five years or more during president Ershad’s regime…Besides these, we are much senior now.”  

The prime minister then reminded him that he was a minister in her cabinet from 1996 to 2001.

A key leader in Ershad’s Jatiya Party in the 90s, Manju worked as the military dictator’s energy and mineral resources minister for three years from 1985.

The BNP came to power by winning the election in 1991 after the ouster of Ershad. While in jail for the entire term of the BNP, Ershad tasked Manju with running the party.

The Jatiya Party backed the Awami League when the latter won the 1996 elections. Hasina made Manju minister at the time.

Ershad was released the next year and the Jatiya Party split into three fractions in 2000. Manju has been leading one of the factions, the Jatiya Party (JP), since then.

Hasina made Manju a minister again when the Awami League formed the government in 2014 for the second consecutive term.

Manju was given the environment and forests ministry at the time.

The six-time MP from Pirojpur’s Bhandaria-Kaukhali seat also said, “All with their eyes and ears open can realise it – all the governments that took charge after the emergence of Bangladesh brought many changes and expansions, but the current government’s work fascinates me.”

He praised Hasina, saying she never discourages but encourages. “She doesn’t believe anything is impossible,” he said.  

Manju also remembered how Hasina helped him whenever he needed it during his tenure at the environment ministry.

“I am fortunate to speak to her about the problems of the ministries she gave me, and she always showed solutions,” he said. 

The 74-year-old politician also recalled his experiences about discussions with the World Bank, the tug-of-war with the global lender over the Padma Bridge funding, and the recent change in its tone over Bangladesh building the bridge with its own fund.

“This time the environment was totally different. Three vice presidents (of the World Bank) came and all of them thanked our leader (Hasina) for the economic development of our country,” he said.

“We never heard such remarks from the international community from ’72 to ’95. The wind of change first came in ’96,” he added.

He thanked Hasina for trusting him with ministership for 10 years.

“I don’t know how much I’ve succeeded, but I personally believe I have never failed with the God’s blessings and your prayers,” he said.