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To the Editor
Dollar crisis and exchange rate
The banks are reporting a shortage of dollars, which is making it difficult for them to make payments for imports. It has been obvious for years that Bangladesh would suffer a foreign exchange crisis in 2005. We all knew that the Multi-Fibre Arrangement (MFA) would expire this year, making it difficult for Bangladeshi garments manufacturers to compete with Chinese manufacturers. We knew that this would reduce our garments exports and hence our inflows of foreign exchange. What we did not know is that petroleum prices would be so high for so long in 2005. In addition to fall in garments exports we are faced with bigger bills for petroleum imports.
There is only one way for the banks to deal with this. They must continue to raise the value of the dollar in relation to the taka. This will discourage imports of non-essential goods (goods other than petroleum and industrial raw materials). It will also help the garment exporters to compete with Chinese manufacturers. The taka will have to continue depreciating until the supply of dollars (from exports) is equal to the demand for dollars (to pay for imports).
We hope that the Bangladesh Bank and the finance ministry will not hinder the banks as they carry out the necessary depreciation of the taka.
Kazi Zahid Hasan Dhanmondi
Why gas cylinders?
Our government is thinking of supplying gas in homes through gas cylinders. How wise this decision is? One thinks of going a step ahead in
progress and not stepping backwards! It was quoted by the finance minister that nowhere in the world gas is supplied through pipelines. Not only in the US but in our neighbouring country India gas is supplied through pipelines in a few areas. I was living in Lodi Road Complex in New Delhi and their gas was supplied through pipelines with meters to read its usage.
Withdrawing the present system of gas supply will lead to accidents, as cylinders are very risky. Instead, our government should fix meter in every home to stop wastage of gas. Anjana
Gulshan-1, Dhaka
Indian visa
Everyday I pass through the Gulshan Avenue in the morning on my way to the workplace. We see hundreds of people queuing up along the avenue for Indian visa. They tolerate and brave the long line, heat, rain, hassle, brawls, etc. for the visa which they require for various purposes namely visit, business, medical treatment, tourism, to see an ailing relative or to attend a marriage ceremony etc.
Well, why do we need a visa? The answer is the High Commission would like to screen out undesirable elements from entering the country and to keep a tab on the persons visiting India. Honestly speaking, are all the hassles necessary? Indian border is so much porous that anybody with ill motives can sneak through the borders at ease. That leaves us with the vast majority of good, innocent, honest and business people.
The procedure can be simplified by giving a visa on arrival at the port ofentry. Only special cases may be dealt with at the High Commission. Such practice will have the following
positive effects. People will be relieved from hassle and hardship of obtaining a visa in Dhaka. Time can be saved. The travellers will have more peace of mind. There will be more travels to India resulting in more sale of bus, train, airline tickets, which will generate more revenue and profit for the relevant sectors.
Lastly, when the whole Europe has opened up why should the subcontinent lag behind in easing sufferings of the people?
We would request the Indian High Commission to forward the suggestions to the authorities concerned with positive recommendations.
SN Mamoon Dhaka
When teachers are a problem
This has reference to Mr. Ashabuzzaman's letter 'A Sad Experience' in The Daily Star on 12 July.
If Mr. Ashabuzzaman's account of the behaviour of his Dhaka University teacher is true, should not the university that keeps such a person and calls him a teacher do some soul searching? I myself have been a university teacher for almost forty years and would sadly admit that such despicable behaviour by a university teacher in our country does not seem incredible to me.
I have known many who are capable of even worse. I have long felt that our teachers are a much bigger problem than our students. In fact, we have so many problem students mainly because we have an abundance of problem teachers.
A K M Mohiuddin
Dhanmondi, Dhaka
Finance minister and gas
Our outspoken finance minister has blasted his fellow countrymen for wasting precious gas to save a mere match stick, and also the practice that some people use it to dry cloths. He is certainly a wise man and he knows it is totally unwise to cast pearl before the swine. Now he has come up with a plan to stop the supply of gas through pipeline to houses and instead supplying it in cylinder, which will naturally be more expensive. What a way to teach the "swine".
It is okay for him if Niko burns up a total gas field and causes irreparable loss to ecology and environment of the area, if his fellow minister forces Bapex to pay more to Niko.
Our honourable finance minister has a habit of saving the big guys and picking the common people. He has imposed new tax on mobile Sim card. He could easily charge the mobile companies. If he had the intention of slashing call rate, he could take steps to make the call charge of the state owned mobile TeleTalk some 0.30 or 0.50 taka per minute so that others are forced to follow suit.
But no! He will find graft in everything and anything. He will call government employees thieves to get cheap limelight and has no prescription to remedy any of it. All he knows is to take money from common people's pockets.
A.K.M. Saifuddin
On e-mail
Economic diplomacy A news report "Dhaka energising economic diplomacy" published in The Daily Star of July 6 has drawn
my attention. Foreign Minister M Morshed Khan has made known his intention to rejuvenate the diplomatic machine. He underlined economic diplomacy to boost diplomatic outputs. He set six priority fields to handle with utmost care and urgency. In this age of globalisation economic diplomacy is very much essential and lucrative. Without sound economic relation diplomatic relation is really unproductive. If Bangladesh wants to energise its economic diplomacy it will have to penetrate new markets, enhance export volume, manpower export and focus on development assistance, infrastructure and information and communication technology. It will have to attract more FDIs.
The foreign ministry seems to be listless and smug. Our diplomats lack professionalism. They are not being groomed perfectly for diplomatic assignments. In many cases political lackeys get ambassadorial appointments.
Molla Mohammad Shaheen Dept of English, DU
Debt relief
This year G8 Summit is aimed to address poverty especially in African countries. The G8 nations have pledged to provide debt relief to poverty-stricken countries and celebrities have used their support to raise consciousness among citizens of various countries. There is no denying that we are a poverty-stricken country. That fact is made clear by the number of beggars we see all around us, by the condition of living in the slums. It becomes even clearer when we see under aged children bearing the burden of earning an income for their families when they should be enjoying their youth and gaining education.
For all intents and purposes, Bangladesh deserves debt relief. The need for debt relief may seem like an insult and embarrassment to the educated that are capable of living a comfortable life. But it will go a long way to send a child from a large family to school or to actually provide agricultural subsidies etc, instead of having to pay the IMF back.
But the question that probably comes to mind is that if Bangladesh does get debt relief who will benefit? Will the government officials end up filling their pockets with the money or will it actually be put into use for subsidies, programmes etc. that really help the poor and the needy?
We need to make sure that the proper individuals or groups are benefited from this. If we are not able to guarantee this we do not deserve debt relief to already line the pockets of individuals who are comfortably placed.
Zeenat Z. Syed
UPS eDeployment
Love
It is known to all that of all human emotions, love is the most fundamental, which is missing in many respects in the life of majority today. The situation is such that we are achieving everything in life but failing to gain and offer love. We see many spending their whole life in search of true love but are not able to get it.
The number of divorces is increasing in society.
We can call it love only when one is willing to sacrifice his own interest for the sake of his or her beloved. In reality, the greed for power, money and possession is making people self centred and
lessening the precious emotion called love for others.
Rubab Abdullah
Dhaka Cantonment, Dhaka
Preventing launch disaster
I have read with interest the letter written by Mr. S.A. Mansoor on the captioned subject and published in your July 10 issue. It is with regret that I have to say that it is not possible to prevent a launch from sinking while it encounters moderately rough weather or meets a collision. It is because the launches are not built to withstand rough weather or collision. In support of my foregoing statement I would like to draw the attention of the readers to the fact that it is only launches that are involved in the disasters that took place in our waterways since liberation. Passenger ships operated by BIWTC have never been involved in any such incident. Not even the two 40 years old passenger ships operating regularly between Chittagong and Barisal. These two ships regularly cross the turbulent Bay and for the past forty years these ships have done so without any major incident.
This is because of the simple reason that the contraption we call launch do not have to comply with "International Conversion on load line" whereas load line convention has to be followed in vessels and ships. During load line survey the watertight integrity of the vessel is ensured and certified. You may have seen in movies that ships encountering rough weather gets completely submerged under huge waves and again resurfaces because the vessel is watertight and no water can enter the vessel cargo
hold compartments, accommodation and engine room. The intact watertight integrity allows sufficient buoyancy to keep the ship afloat.
In conclusion, I would like to mention here that we have to live with launch disasters as long as these dangerous contraptions are allowed to ply in our rivers.
Salahuddin Ahmad
On e-mail
Anti-smoking law
The other day, some of my students and I took our lunch at the BRAC restaurant, situated on the 4th floor of the BRAC-building in Mohakhali, Dhaka. Although the restaurant is mostly visited by educated people and business people, we had to shift from one table to another before we could find a healthy place far enough from the nearest cigarette smokers. When I asked the waiter of the restaurant for the nonsmokers zone, to my total surprise, the man gave us a negative answer: smokers and non-smokers are forced to sit side by side in the BRAC-restaurant!
What is appalling is the fact that meanwhile there is an anti-tobacco law in Bangladesh and most of the countries in the world have banned smoking from all public places, including restaurants.
Is it so difficult for a big NGO like BRAC to give the correct example by asking their clientele and visitors to leave their cigarettes outdoors? This has all to do with common sense, nothing else. Just to give BRAC an example: the UNICEF building in Dhaka is declared 100% non-smokers.
Willy Legendre
Baharchara, Cox's Bazar