Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has questioned the necessity of a proposed visit to Florida of the USA by Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) mayor and five officials to learn about mosquito control measures, saying innovative solutions can be developed by observing mosquito breeding grounds at home.
According to a press release issued by the Prime Minister’s Press Wing on Monday night, the Local Government Division sent a summary to the Prime Minister’s Office seeking approval for the visit by CCC Mayor Dr Sahadat Hossain and five officials to Florida.
The proposed tour, to be funded by US-based Valent BioSciences LLC, was aimed at allowing the delegation to observe advanced mosquito control and eradication methods.
Commenting on the proposal, the Prime Minister said: “There is no need to go to Florida in the United States to learn or observe mosquito eradication. One can develop many innovative methods of mosquito control simply by spending two or three hours beside any stagnant water body in the country after sunset.”
Contacted, Prime Minister’s Additional Press Secretary Atikur Rahman Rumon said Tarique Rahman rejected the proposal for a visit to the United States by Chattogram City Corporation Mayor and officials to study mosquito control measures.
“The previous government used to send officials abroad on various project-related visits, including mosquito control programmes, which often resulted in wastage of state funds,” he said.
Rumon also said such visits, whether funded by the state or foreign agencies, did not produce any effective results.