special
‘Bulbul’ brings Bagerhat tomato farmers to their knees
Cyclone ‘Bulbul’ dealt a heavy blow to the dreams of hundreds of tomato growers in the coastal district as farmers now stare at bleak future scratching their heads to find ways to repay loans.
Cumilla Zoo and Botanical Garden in awful condition
Cumilla Zoo and Botanical Garden, which was established to provide recreational facilities to the residents of the district away from the monogamy of everyday life, is now in an very poor shape, thanks to its mismanagement.
Wholesalers upset as onion price falling fast
The price of onion saw a significant fall by Tk 40-60 per kg at the wholesale market while by Tk 10-20 at the retail market on Tuesday with many traders still passing idle time for lack of buyers.
Authentic info must be disseminated fast to defeat rumour mill: Experts
Social media now have turned out to be a means of spreading rumours to manipulate markets by unscrupulous businesspeople to make quick buck by fooling people and this menace has to be tackled through dissemination of authentic information fast, said experts.
A rumour that triggers panic buying of salt
Just like any other day, Rupam Rifat, a private firm staff, was busy at his desk in the office. Things were going well until he received a phone call.
Netrakona farmers eye bumper T-Aman yield
After huge losses in the last season due to sharp fall in rice price and damage by recent floods, farmers here have started dreaming of having bumper T-Aman production this year, thanks to the favourable weather.
Reskilling, up-skilling vital to avert 4IR backlash: Experts
Bangladesh urgently needs to overhaul its education system with a focus on technology and incorporating robotics into curricula to tackle the challenges to be posed by the ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)’ by reskilling and up-skilling manpower, say experts.
Onion Market: Now wholesalers on a slippery slope
Amid the steady fall in its price, wholesalers as well as retailers now refrain from buying onion fearing a further price fall as the locally-grown variety along with the imported ones started hitting the market.
NCC cleaners ‘immune’ to health hazards
They clean wastes and garbage to keep the city clean and hygienic without using any protective gears, exposing themselves to various contagious diseases.
Some of the cleaners claim they are “immune to any health hazards associated with the job” but experts say they are at risk of contracting diseases such as Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C and even AIDS.
There are 912 cleaners working under the Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC). Besides, more than 100 cleaners are employed through 12 NGOs to collect wastes from houses.
Besides, several hundred day-labourers clean the sewerage system of the city during Eid and work on daily-wage basis at different times.
These workers under the NCC collect garbage from different places and dump them at designated spots. But no-one of them use any protective gear provided by NCC.
“They collect wastes and garbage without wearing gloves, boots, or masks. The garbage includes rotten vegetables, dead animals, and even entrails of chicken, cattle and goats,” a municipality official said.
The scenario in two hospitals is also serious. The hospital staff openly clean medical wastes, which is dangerous to human health, without using masks and dump them at designated sites.
Medical wastes include syringes, needles, blood, cotton with pus, tumours, bandage-gauze, hand gloves, medicines and medicine bottles, saline and other chemicals.
“Garbage is always risky. It’s extremely risky if the garbage is removed without any protective measure,” said NCC Medical Officer Sheikh Mustafa Ali.
“But the cleaners aren’t aware that they’re at severe risk and they’re not taking it seriously,” he added.
The cleaners refused to talk to the UNB correspondent.
One of them, speaking on condition of anonymity, said: “We’ve been doing this work for years. We always work barefoot, collect wastes with our bare-hands and without masks. Nothing happens to us. We don’t need protective gears.”
Alamgir Hossain Hiron, Conservancy Officer of NCC, said they provide the cleaners with gloves, masks, shoes and even raincoats. “They sell those instead of using them,” he said.
“We repeatedly tell them (about health hazards at work) but our words are ignored. The situation has improved. Nowadays many staff are aware of the dangers and use protective gears,” Hiron said.
A concrete bridge could reduce hassles of thousands
A risky bamboo bridge at Mohishamuri Dharapar village in Kaliganj upazila has become the only means for over one one lakh people of 15-20 villages since a concrete one over the Shoti River caved in five years ago.