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“Trained manpower and safe vessels will contribute to maritime security.” With this in mind, Nationwide Safety Week 2022 has started from Thursday. State Minister for Shipping Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury MP Thursday inaugurated ‘Maritime Safety Week-2022’ at MV Sundarbans-10 launch at Sadarghat seaport in Dhaka.
Speaking on the occasion, the State Minister said that the situation in Sri Lanka is creating panic in the country to create chaos. We have to be careful not to disturb the security of the country. Corona’s subsequent Ukraine-Russia war has shaken the world. Bangladesh stands there because of the efficient leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. “We could not provide security because irresponsible people were running the country,” he said. Now that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is running the country. Roads and railways have improved a lot. Even aviation has improved. Waterways have also been developed. Thousands of crores of taka are being invested. More budget will come. They have to be implemented.
Honorable Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Shipping, Bir Muktijoddha Major (Retd) Rafiqul Islam, Bir Uttam, MP; Member of Parliament SM Shahzada, Honorable Secretary of the Ministry of Shipping Mohammad Mezbah Uddin Chowdhury; Ahmed Shamim Al Razi, Chairman, BIWTC; BIWTA Chairman Commodore Golam Sadeq; Golam Kibria Tipu MP, former chief adviser of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport ; Badiuzzaman Badash, Vice President, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport; Bangladesh Cargo Vessel Owners Association General Secretary Nurul Haque, Manjurul Kabir, Chief Engineer, Department of Shipping and Shah Alam Bhuiyan, President, Bangladesh Shipping Workers Federation spoke on the occasion.
Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury said, “Today we are thinking about rivers and waterways.” But Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the father of the nation, a very far-sighted hero of the great conquest, had been thinking about the necessity of river management since the fifties. But through that stigmatized chapter of August 15, 1975 and the change of political pot, everything seemed to turn upside down. After the Awami League came to power in early 2009 under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the worthy daughter of Bangabandhu, various initiatives have been taken. The Hon’ble Prime Minister herself is taking the lead in the difficult task of restoring the extinct and evicted rivers, flowing them through excavations and developing the shipping system. Recovering lost waterways emphasizes dredger collection. After independence Bangabandhu collected seven dredgers to maintain the navigability of the waterways. After the assassination of Bangabandhu on 15 August 1975, no further dredgers were collected. The Awami League government has so far procured 40 dredgers; another 35 dredgers are being procured.
It is to be noted that Naval Safety Week is observed every year under the overall supervision of the Ministry of Shipping to ensure the safety of the vessels and passengers on the waterways and to keep the waterways free from pollution.