Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Sunday urged the authority of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) to take effective measures to alleviate the suffering of the passengers by speeding up luggage handling.
The foreign minister made the remarks on his arrival at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport after an official tour from Portugal, a Foreign Ministry press release said.
He said “The expatriate Bangladeshis have been contributing to the country’s economy by their hard-earning remittance, it is unfortunate but true that they have to wait hours to get their luggage upon their arrival at the airport”. "It is really painful for them".
After arriving at the airport, the minister went to the luggage belts and found that passengers were waiting there for nearly two hours to get their baggage.
Later, Momen spoke to the passengers waiting in the luggage belt area of the airport and listened to their complaints.
Afterward, he called the director of HSIA and asked him to take prompt steps to reduce luggage handling time.
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The expatriate Bangladeshis have already started getting results of the services that the foreign ministry has taken a number of measures to improve consular services at the Bangladesh missions abroad, he added.
Similarly, he said measures should be taken to ease the burden on expatriate Bangladeshis at the country's international airports".
He assured the passengers present that the airport authorities have been informed to alleviate the suffering of the passengers and hoped that the authorities would take steps to ease the suffering soon.
Later, he made a phone call to State Minister for Aviation and Tourism M Mahbub Ali while the junior minister assured him to take steps for further improvement at the airport services.
Finally, Momen thanked the state minister for easing the luggage scanning system at Dhaka airport.