No new roads before national election: Obaidul Quader

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader instructed the deputy commissioners (DC) not to construct new roads anywhere in the country before the upcoming national election.

He told reporters on Wednesday on the second day of the Deputy Commissioners Conference in Dhaka, "I told the DCs seriously that now we do not want to build any new roads. We want to repair the existing ones before the next election."

Obaidul Quader said, "We have controlled the movement of small vehicles like motorcycles in Dhaka. We have ensured the use of helmets by motorcycle riders. But in rural areas, this has not been ensured. I asked the DCs to work on this."

Meanwhile, Commerce Minister Tipu Munshi, who was also present at the event, directed the deputy commissioner to take strict measures to prevent commodity price manipulation during Ramadan.

He gave this order on the second day of the District Commissioner's conference. Later, the Minister of Commerce answered various questions from the journalists in this regard.

"DCs are parts of the government. They implement government plans and programmes. They must be alert to control the commodity prices manipulations," he said.

Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder said that the country currently has the highest amount of rice stock ever. So, there is no chance of famine in the country.

On the high price of rice, the food minister told the journalists at the same event, "There are OMS, VGD and VGF services for those who cannot afford rice at such high prices. There is no reason to panic. However, everyone should pay attention to prevent food wastage."

At the Deputy Commissioners Conference, Agriculture Minister Abdur Razzaque informed journalists that agriculture production in the country has increased four times than in previous years.

"Currently, we are producing 47 million tonnes of food including rice, wheat and corn. Our food production in the post-independence period was around 10 million tonnes, which has increased four times today," he said.

The minister added, "We have become self-sufficient in food. Our challenge now is to ensure nutritious food."