‘Don’t talk too much’

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader yesterday urged the high-ups concerned of the government to not talk too much about the dengue outbreak.

“Instead of just talking, we will work. These are sensitive times; too much talking can bring bad results for the country,” he said during a cleanliness campaign of Awami League to  control dengue outbreak at the capital’s Farmgate.

Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister, also urged countrymen to celebrate Eid with caution, and warned that a vested quarter is trying to create panic so that  people do not visit their homes during the Eid vacation.

Quader said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has directed the authorities to  make the country free of dengue. The government has taken it as a  challenge.

Responding to BNP’s claims that the government has failed to contain the outbreak, he said, “Some people who can’t find anything to do are now calling for  declaring the situation an epidemic or an emergency.”

“BNP needs to declare a ‘party emergency’ to come out of their own crisis. Over the last one and a half years, BNP could not arrange any demonstration for Khaleda Zia; they also failed to perform the role of a responsible opposition party,” Quader said. 

Earlier on Wednesday, AL inaugurated a three-day cleanliness programme at Dhanmondi Lake near party President Sheikh Hasina’s political office.

Yesterday was the last day of the cleanliness campaign, but Quader said they will continue the initiative to make people aware of the importance of cleanliness.

He also mentioned that around a thousand people died of dengue and over a lakh are affected by the disease in the Philippines. The epidemic has also spread to Vietnam, India, Myanmar and China.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Atiqul Islam, AL Joint General Secretary Jahangir Kabir Nanok and other AL leaders were also present at the meeting.