Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Sunday said proper planning and goodwill could transform any area into a clean, green and attractive place, citing the environmental improvements in Aminbazar over the past two months.
“With proper planning and goodwill, an area can beautifully be transformed for the welfare and benefit of people. This place is the biggest proof of that,” he said.
The Prime Minister made the remarks after inaugurating a greening and beautification programme along both sides of the Dhaka-Aricha highway by planting a sapling at Aminbazar while returning to Dhaka from Savar Cantonment.
He said the area had changed significantly over the past two months, improving the environment for people living within around four kilometres of the site and making it easier for them to breathe cleaner air.
Tarique thanked Dhaka Deputy Commissioner Farida Khanom and the officials and employees of the Local Government Ministry involved in the initiative for their efforts.
He urged local residents to help preserve the improvements, saying the government had developed the area but maintaining its cleanliness and beauty was also the responsibility of people living nearby.
“Local people must take responsibility for preserving the environmental improvements.
With public cooperation alongside government initiatives, pollution and waste management problems can be gradually addressed,” he said.
The Prime Minister asked the deputy commissioner to expand the greening programme to other areas of Dhaka district near Aminbazar.
He also suggested discussing with owners of mills and factories along the highway the possibility of assigning them responsibility for maintaining specific stretches of the road.
The authorities concerned should prepare plans in consultation with relevant stakeholders to improve and beautify areas where waste continued to accumulate, he added.
Tarique called on local lawmakers to cooperate with the district administration, expressing hope that coordinated efforts by public representatives and officials would gradually resolve waste management and environmental problems.
“Everyone must work together so that people can breathe fresh air and enjoy the beauty of nature,” he said.
The Prime Minister said Dhaka Deputy Commissioner Farida Khanom had set an example for administrations in other districts through the environmental improvement and beautification work at Aminbazar.
He expressed hope that deputy commissioners elsewhere would take effective steps to transform similar areas into clean, green and attractive places.
BNP Standing Committee member and local MP Amanullah Aman, State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam, and State Minister for Fisheries and Livestock Sultan Salauddin Tuku were present.
Earlier in the day, the Prime Minister attended a ceremony at Savar Cantonment to present the National Standard to several battalions and regiments of the Bangladesh Army.