Volleying back....
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30,000 trees wiped out in seven days (September 14, 2009)
Well, those in power are always taking care of these sort of people who commit crimes like these.
Iktear Uddin I am so shocked by the news. I remember 15 years ago when we were in school in Teknaf, teachers took us to the beach to help plant these trees. These trees grew with me and I felt they are part of me. I am absolutely devastated. We want to know who are these so called influential locals.
Mahbub Murshed Such massive destruction of our coastal plantations is very unfortunate indeed. However, I would also like to mention that raising the plantation at the down side of the marine road is not a good idea as, for the tourists driving on the road, it blocks the beautiful view of the sea. For this matter, the plantation should be raised on the other (upper) side of the road. (I don't know if some of the tour operating companies also thought actively in this line!) But, this should be done in a planned manner i.e. new plantations should be raised on the upper side of the road first, before removing the existing stands on the downside of the road.
Abdul Quddus It is a picture of sheer lawlessness and greed among the government agencies. Oh! what a shocking picture. The OC's statement is unacceptable.
Mashie Khan You have a magnificent country in Bangladesh and a magnificent potential global tourist asset at Cox's Bazaar. Yet, through continuing mindless and unimpeded local bureaucratic actions , a total lack of courageous and visionary government decisions, ineffective and bureaucratically delivered aid programmes and entrenched corruption on an epic scale, Bangladesh is going nowhere fast and will continue to go nowhere fast.
Bob Johnson This so called people's government that rules the sovereign country of Bangladesh is to blame. There will be nothing left to build on by the time they leave power. I think this cabinet and its structure is by far the worst this country has seen. There is no balance in the system. Fire must fear water for a balance to exist. How could they bring down all those trees in broad daylight?
Shafquat Azad First of all, punish those who are responsible for protecting forests.
Anonymous The govt. should punish the culprits and thus set an example for the rest to refrain them from such activities.
Engr. Saeed That's what happens when the first incident is overlooked. I am sure all of you remember the case reported a couple of months back in DS about trees in Sitakunda.
Morshed Legal cutters cut trees from the base keeping no basal portion left out because they can't waste the bought or grown wood. Only pirates can leave out bases because cutting from the base takes more time and they don't care wasting because they neither grew them nor spent any money. That is, the several feet tall basal trunk still standing is a strong evidence that trees have been cut by pirates. Now the question arises why such piracy of plants goes on unabated in many places when a people's government is at the helm?
MAS Molla When our prime minister attended an overseas summit on climate & natural disaster, we could not protect our natural wall which would guard us against cyclones.
Md. Alamgir Hossain Mathematically, more than 4,000 trees were felled per day....what were the reporters doing during the 2nd, 3rd, 4th days when trees were being felled?
Ashique Mahmud It frustrates me to think that people do not understand that places like Teknaf have the natural resources which we can cash on, instead of destroying the assets that we have. This kind of behaviour is quite appalling.
Naaz Fahmida Does anyone in power care about this?
Rezaul Karim We broke all records of destructive work.
Sharif Hosen This group of people must be punished. The punishment should be an exemplary one, so that no one has the courage to do something like this in the future.
Rafiur Rahman My appeal to the govt: take drastic action through your agencies against those people who have committed this criminal act. We demand visible action, no comment or commitment.
Ahsanul Habib*****
Traffic signal system made spectator of total chaos
(September 10, 2009)
First of all, train the traffic police before deploying them in the road.
Ameer Syed Please blame corruption.
Ahmad Make the roads, including pavements, more scientifically structured...it will greatly reduce uncertainty that drivers face.
Ferdous Jalil One day I met one Sri Lankan guy who had come to Bangladesh for some official work. To him, Bangladesh means Dhaka city, no place of interest; everything seemed to him very funny. No houses, all are flats, congestion, excessive population, dirty etc. What surprised him is that when the green light is on, vehicles stop, and, when the red light is on, vehicles begin to move! I couldn't answer.
Sabiha Sultana When more than 80% of the road space is always occupied by vehicles and when intersections are close to each other, and when there is mixed land use in every part of the city, and where population is more than double the capacity, NO smart traffic control system available in the world can improve the situation.
Saif Iqbal Not only in Bangladesh, but everywhere in the world people do not want to stop at traffic signal, they want to exceed speed limit, etc. But in the civilized countries people follow the rules because they fear the penalty, fine, jail, cancellation of license, etc.
Zack We need new roads straight and with proper type crossings. Traffic police also need to be educated on the traffic management including those officers.
Sohel Ahmed The traffic police may have a remote 'PAUSE' switch in hand to control the automated signals, which in turn will control the traffic movement. This system will ensure compliance with traffic rules by the on duty traffic controllers.
Muhammad Ali I have been driving for three months in Australia without having any pre-driving training and lessons. From my little experience, I can surely tell how smoothly we drive in Australia because of the proper traffic controlling systems and road rules or regulations. However, regarding our problems, I think we need to rebuild Bangladesh from the beginning. Thanks to our low paid traffic police.
Md Nazrul Islam Thanks for the story. Some times I feel annoyed with the traffic police including the traffic sergeant, but most of the time I have sympathy for them. At least, we can move!
SM Asaduzzaman DS deserves a special commendation for constantly reporting on Dhaka traffic problem. Traffic police, is, of course, part of the issue, not the whole. This issue requires a deeper and coordinated approach that will encompass many related factors, such as road rules, citizens' awareness, quantity and quality of vehicles plying, road network capacity, movement control at peak times, public transport route management, street side shops and so on. After seeing how our authorities act, I now have resigned to the fact that this is one problem we are incapable of solving.
Humayun Kabir
Iktear Uddin I am so shocked by the news. I remember 15 years ago when we were in school in Teknaf, teachers took us to the beach to help plant these trees. These trees grew with me and I felt they are part of me. I am absolutely devastated. We want to know who are these so called influential locals.
Mahbub Murshed Such massive destruction of our coastal plantations is very unfortunate indeed. However, I would also like to mention that raising the plantation at the down side of the marine road is not a good idea as, for the tourists driving on the road, it blocks the beautiful view of the sea. For this matter, the plantation should be raised on the other (upper) side of the road. (I don't know if some of the tour operating companies also thought actively in this line!) But, this should be done in a planned manner i.e. new plantations should be raised on the upper side of the road first, before removing the existing stands on the downside of the road.
Abdul Quddus It is a picture of sheer lawlessness and greed among the government agencies. Oh! what a shocking picture. The OC's statement is unacceptable.
Mashie Khan You have a magnificent country in Bangladesh and a magnificent potential global tourist asset at Cox's Bazaar. Yet, through continuing mindless and unimpeded local bureaucratic actions , a total lack of courageous and visionary government decisions, ineffective and bureaucratically delivered aid programmes and entrenched corruption on an epic scale, Bangladesh is going nowhere fast and will continue to go nowhere fast.
Bob Johnson This so called people's government that rules the sovereign country of Bangladesh is to blame. There will be nothing left to build on by the time they leave power. I think this cabinet and its structure is by far the worst this country has seen. There is no balance in the system. Fire must fear water for a balance to exist. How could they bring down all those trees in broad daylight?
Shafquat Azad First of all, punish those who are responsible for protecting forests.
Anonymous The govt. should punish the culprits and thus set an example for the rest to refrain them from such activities.
Engr. Saeed That's what happens when the first incident is overlooked. I am sure all of you remember the case reported a couple of months back in DS about trees in Sitakunda.
Morshed Legal cutters cut trees from the base keeping no basal portion left out because they can't waste the bought or grown wood. Only pirates can leave out bases because cutting from the base takes more time and they don't care wasting because they neither grew them nor spent any money. That is, the several feet tall basal trunk still standing is a strong evidence that trees have been cut by pirates. Now the question arises why such piracy of plants goes on unabated in many places when a people's government is at the helm?
MAS Molla When our prime minister attended an overseas summit on climate & natural disaster, we could not protect our natural wall which would guard us against cyclones.
Md. Alamgir Hossain Mathematically, more than 4,000 trees were felled per day....what were the reporters doing during the 2nd, 3rd, 4th days when trees were being felled?
Ashique Mahmud It frustrates me to think that people do not understand that places like Teknaf have the natural resources which we can cash on, instead of destroying the assets that we have. This kind of behaviour is quite appalling.
Naaz Fahmida Does anyone in power care about this?
Rezaul Karim We broke all records of destructive work.
Sharif Hosen This group of people must be punished. The punishment should be an exemplary one, so that no one has the courage to do something like this in the future.
Rafiur Rahman My appeal to the govt: take drastic action through your agencies against those people who have committed this criminal act. We demand visible action, no comment or commitment.
Ahsanul Habib
Ameer Syed Please blame corruption.
Ahmad Make the roads, including pavements, more scientifically structured...it will greatly reduce uncertainty that drivers face.
Ferdous Jalil One day I met one Sri Lankan guy who had come to Bangladesh for some official work. To him, Bangladesh means Dhaka city, no place of interest; everything seemed to him very funny. No houses, all are flats, congestion, excessive population, dirty etc. What surprised him is that when the green light is on, vehicles stop, and, when the red light is on, vehicles begin to move! I couldn't answer.
Sabiha Sultana When more than 80% of the road space is always occupied by vehicles and when intersections are close to each other, and when there is mixed land use in every part of the city, and where population is more than double the capacity, NO smart traffic control system available in the world can improve the situation.
Saif Iqbal Not only in Bangladesh, but everywhere in the world people do not want to stop at traffic signal, they want to exceed speed limit, etc. But in the civilized countries people follow the rules because they fear the penalty, fine, jail, cancellation of license, etc.
Zack We need new roads straight and with proper type crossings. Traffic police also need to be educated on the traffic management including those officers.
Sohel Ahmed The traffic police may have a remote 'PAUSE' switch in hand to control the automated signals, which in turn will control the traffic movement. This system will ensure compliance with traffic rules by the on duty traffic controllers.
Muhammad Ali I have been driving for three months in Australia without having any pre-driving training and lessons. From my little experience, I can surely tell how smoothly we drive in Australia because of the proper traffic controlling systems and road rules or regulations. However, regarding our problems, I think we need to rebuild Bangladesh from the beginning. Thanks to our low paid traffic police.
Md Nazrul Islam Thanks for the story. Some times I feel annoyed with the traffic police including the traffic sergeant, but most of the time I have sympathy for them. At least, we can move!
SM Asaduzzaman DS deserves a special commendation for constantly reporting on Dhaka traffic problem. Traffic police, is, of course, part of the issue, not the whole. This issue requires a deeper and coordinated approach that will encompass many related factors, such as road rules, citizens' awareness, quantity and quality of vehicles plying, road network capacity, movement control at peak times, public transport route management, street side shops and so on. After seeing how our authorities act, I now have resigned to the fact that this is one problem we are incapable of solving.
Humayun Kabir
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