JS attendance

Sir. I appreciate the bold stance of Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury at the Jatiya Sangsad in challenging the ruling of the Speaker that an opposition member must sign the attendance register. Further more. I admire the BNP member from Chittagong for pointing out that "no parliament in the world has the practice of compulsory signing the attendance register" and for not signing the attendance register during his stay in the House.

In this connection, it would be worthwhile to mention that only the staff of government and non-government offices are required to sign attendance registers to prove their presence, but a parliament member s status, I believe, is much higher than them.

Instead of making it mandatory' for the opposition MPs to sign the attendance register, the Speaker could have instructed the officials of the Jatiya Sangsad to write down the names of the opposition MPs who attended the Parliament after a long absence.

K Rahman Road# 11 (new), Dhanmondi Dhaka

Khulna Newsprint Mill

Sir, The report published on KNM In your esteemed daily on 26th June. 2000 is no doubt a truth but not the whole truth. During the current financial year. 1. e. 1999-2000. the Khulna Newsprint Mill Incurred a loss of over Taka fifty crore due to mismanagement, labour unrest, corruption etc. Its usual source of raw materials is Sundarbans. But as the bio diversity problem takes a crucial turn, it will not be possible to get raw materials in near future from Sundarbans. So there is no point in keeping the Mill alive through artificial respiration under pressure from trade union only to sustain huge losses. The taxpayers are paying through their noses to serve the interest of some corrupt officials and trade union leaders. Cost of imported newsprint will be lot cheaper than the cost of locally produced newsprint. Will the Prime Minister’s office. Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Industries look into the matter?

Dilruba Chwodhury Uttara

Careless scooter drivers

Sir. Now-a-days. It is often noticed that the scooter drivers are sitting on the driving seats by folding and resting their left legs on the seats and driving In this position which is very dangerous. I am sure that this kind of sitting while driving is against the traffic rule.

A driver must take his driving seat very smartly, carefully and firmly to face any difficult situation while driving. If a driver scats In a very relaxed and casual manner and treat his vehicle as a toy, he Is not only violating traffic rule but also putting the passenger's life in danger.

From my personal experience, 1 can assure that the countries where three wheelers like ours ply, the drivers are very cautious and careful about their sitting position while driving. Police are also cautious to prevent any unwanted incident due to the driver’s carelessness.

As a conscious citizen, J would like to attract

the attention of the traffic authority and request to take necessary steps against such carelessness.

Saber Hossain 35/B, Bijoy Nagar, Dhaka

Reduction in interest rates

Sir. In the National Budget for the year 2000-2001, our Finance Minister has proposed reduction in the interest rates on the various government savings instruments through restructuring. It has been pleaded that due to high rate of profit on the government savings instruments, banking and financial sectors are facing difficulties in mobilising savings, which would be used for investment in and growth of the industrial sector. This argument is not at all logical and acceptable, as the failure of the banking sector in mobilising savings and providing loans to industries is due primarily to mismanagement of the resources/savings by the banks as well as huge government borrowing from the banking system. The huge amount of liquid money in the bank also does not corroborate Finance Minister s statement. Besides, it is least understood how the reduction in interest rates on the saving Instruments would automatically induce and enhance bank savings. On the contrary, the proposed drastic reduction of the interest rates on saving instruments will: a) defeat the original purpose of such savings Instruments, b) seriously affect the income of the incumbent, many of whom are pension holders who live solely on this income, c) discourage new savings using these instruments.

Under the circumstances, it is suggested that the rate of interest-cut on the savings instruments as proposed by the Finance Minister should be reconsidered and reduced rationally, so that it safeguards the interest of all concerned. The kind attention of the Members of the Parliament and the concerned authorities are drawn to the above issue.

R I Khan Dhanmondi, Dhaka

Beef up the traffic system

Sir. The recent Budget was apathetic to the urgent need of strengthening some government departments and agencies to cope with the heavy work loads experienced during the last few years: for example, some severe problems created due to the rapid urbanisation movements adversely affecting the major cities.

Dhaka traffic police's helplessness was revealed in the DS story of July 2— working at half the needed staff strength. While belatedly, the bulldozers are in action to combat the callousness of Rajuk and DCC, the huge number of unauthorised vehicles in Dhaka city cannot be bulldozed. Even there is no mechanism to prosecute thousands of traffic violations.

The DCC have also to augment its under -strength workforce to provide a certain degree of adequate service in the metropolis. The Chittagong port needs an iron-hand administration. but the Intransigent labour unions (more than two dozen defiant CBAs) are holding sway and sniping at the heavy port traffic. The potential foreign Investors naturally feel uncertain.

The centre has to provide more than moral support—help more as a facilitator. It is a pity that during the closing year of governance, the political focus tends to shift from public interest to party interest.

Abul M Ahmad Dhaka

Views expressed In this column are the writers' own. The Editor may or may not subscribe to those views. The Editor reserves the right to decide which letters should be published.