AL leaders divided over initiative
Awami League (AL) leaders in Chattogram are divided over the government's initiative of building a hospital at the port city's Central Railway Building (CRB) area.
Although many leaders are demanding relocation of the hospital project from CRB, known as the city's oxygen centre, many others are supporting the government's decision.
Sources said the president of AL's Chattogram city unit, Mahtab Uddin Chowdhury, in an internal meeting of the unit's working committee on Tuesday, warned party leaders who are opposing the project.
He told leaders to resign from their party posts, if they wanted to oppose the decision of government high-ups, they said.
AL Chattogram city unit vice presidents Khorshed Alam Sujan and Ibrahim Hossain Chowdhury Babul, Chattogram south district unit general secretary Mofizur Rahman, and the city unit's law affairs secretary Iftekher Saimul Chowdhury, among others, have been demanding for the project's relocation.
Babul is also member secretary of Nagarik Samaj, Chattogram, a platform created to put forth their demands. Premier University Vice Chancellor Prof Anupam Sen, also a member of AL's central advisory council, is the platform's convener.
Sujan, also a former administrator of Chattogram City Corporation (CCC), is the chief advisor of Nagarik Udyog, Chattogram, another platform created for the cause.
AL Chattogram city unit general secretary AJM Nasir Uddin and Chattogram south district unit president Moslem Uddin Ahmed, among others, are in support of the initiative.
On Saturday, Moslem, also a lawmaker, while addressing a programme in Chattogram, said there is no scope for any AL leader to oppose the project, as it is a decision by government high-ups.
He said those who are opposing the project area are being "influenced" by authorities of some private hospitals.
On Sunday, Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury, deputy minister for education, while talking to journalists during a programme at Chattogram General Hospital, said as the hospital project was initiated following the government's executive order, he is bound to support it because he is part of the government.
Nasir, also a former CCC mayor, has been opposing the movement for relocation since its beginning in July, saying that the project would do no harm to the environment.
Despite Mahtab's warning, AL leaders opposing the project are continuing to hold programmes, demanding relocation.
Nagarik Udyog organised a programme at CRB on Wednesday afternoon, where they hung birds' nests to trees. "We want the area to remain an environmental hub and an ideal habitat for flora and fauna," said Sujan.
About Mahtab's warning, he said, "The president [Mahtab] did not say this during a formal meeting. The meeting was over when he said it, when the leaders were discussing informally."
Bangladesh Railway signed an agreement with a private company on March 18 last year to establish a 500-bed hospital, a medical college and a nursing institute at CRB on a public-private partnership basis.
CRB is surrounded by hills, hillocks, valleys and a number of century-old trees. People visit the area daily for morning and evening walks, or just to take in a breath of fresh air.
Different socio-political and cultural organisations as well as individuals have been demanding the government relocate the project, fearing that building a hospital there would adversely impact the environment and charm of the area.
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