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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

letters@thedailystar.net
Will we only watch deaths on road?
On the issue of 25 th September, in the story covering the mother who died in front of her child, you wrote, "a six-year-old girl had to watch her mother getting crushed under the wheels of a bus. "This is simply not acceptable. It is difficult not to ask oneself why there has not been a larger, immediate outcry to improve the conditions of roads across Bangladesh to prevent these accidents from happening in the first place?
According to WHO, an estimated 1.2 million people are killed in road crashes and nearly 50 million people are injured each year. What is more concerning is that these figures are projected to increase by almost 65% over the next 20 years unless a greater, concerted effort is made to prevent road crashes from happening. Without proper action and advocacy efforts surrounding better maintenance and safety of roads, the problem will only get worse. According to the WHO, approximately 20,000 civilians die on Bangladeshi roads a year. So what will it take? We cannot keep watching our neighbours and friends suffer on our very own roads due to reckless driving. We need to take a stand and ask for improved maintenance of these roads, and be more cognizant drivers. When we are behind the wheel, we are responsible not only for our own life, but also of others on the road.
Lauren Villa
On e-mail
Explore int'l market for our potato
In spite of its bumper production, potato is reportedly rotting away due to non-availability of efficient marketing system as well as storage facilities. Farmers are facing a great economic loss.
I think diplomatic efforts through commercial sections of the Bangladesh missions abroad should be intensified to convince potential international buyers to buy potato from Bangladesh. Middle Eastern countries, European Union may be approached to create international market for Bangladeshi potato which is good in both quality and nutrient content.
At home, cold storage facilities must be increased to help potato farmers recover their cultivation cost plus earn some profits.
Professor MZahidul Haque Dean, Faculty of Agriculture SAU, Dhaka
Tragedy of a mother
The news published in many newspapers on September 17,2013 is heart wrenching. Unable to bear the death of her 6-year-old daughter, Chandramukhi, Nazneen Akhter, a senior reporter of the Daily Janakantha, jumped from the balcony of their fourth floor flat in Kalyanpur on September 16, 2013, the day her daughter had died. She survived the fall. May she also find the strength to bear the agony and despair.
It is the cruelest turn of fate to see the demise of one's own child. We pray to Almighty Allah to spare the parents from this unimaginable pain. Nur Jahan Chittagong