Two ministers in spat over railway project in Sunamganj

Planning Minister MA Mannan in a Facebook post yesterday reacted to Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen's demi official letter to railways minister over the route selection for a prospective railway in Sunamganj.

In the post, the planning minister expressed his surprise over the foreign minister's "hasty" move and said Momen should have discussed the matter with him before taking sides on this issue.

Planning Minister's APS Masum Billah confirmed the authenticity of the Facebook post to The Daily Star.

In the post yesterday afternoon, the minister wrote, "It's true Dr Momen and I have been friends for over 50 years now. But his writing a hasty DO [demi official letter] to Railways Minister [Nurul Islam Sujan] supporting the stand of the five other MPs of Sunamganj, including a Jatiya Party MP, has taken me by surprise.

"He very well knows I am also an MP from Sunamganj. He knows this matter of rail connection with Sunamganj also concerns me. I know more about this issue than he [does]. I don't think he has ever set foot on Sunamganj soil in his long and colourful life.

"Any other person in this situation would have checked it with me before taking a side in this matter. For a friend of 50 years and a cabinet colleague, this would not be expected in normal condition."

For decades, Sunamganj has been waiting to get connected through rail as only the district's Chhatak upazila has been connected to Sylhet since 1954 due to industrial importance.

The railways ministry in 2015 assessed three possible routes to connect Sunamganj town with Chhatak, which will connect with Dhaka via Sunamganj's Dharmapasha and Netrakona's Mohanganj upazilas.

However, the planning minister, also the parliamentarian from Sunamganj-3, recently asked the railways ministry to revise the assessment by skipping Chhatak and including Dakshin Sunamganj upazila, which is his home and constituency.

As this demand will eventually increase cost and time, all five other MPs of Sunamganj opposed it and sent DO letters to the railways minister on June 7.

The foreign minister on June 9 also sent a DO letter to the railways minister backing the position of the five other parliamentarians of Sunamganj.

After facing criticism for opposing the planning minister and widespread rumour of a rift between the two, the foreign minister on June 14 on his Facebook account claimed to have 50 years' friendship with the planning minister and said there is no feud between them.