Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Saturday directed the authorities concerned to engage retired officials and senior citizens in cleanliness campaigns in different areas to build a clean, green Dhaka and use their knowledge and services for public welfare.
Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives (LGRD) State Minister Mir Shahe Alam disclosed this at a press briefing at the Karabi Hall at the Prime Minister's Office in the afternoon.
Earlier, Tarique Rahman chaired a review meeting on Dhaka's cleanliness activities at the Prime Minister's Office in the noon.
At the review meeting, the Prime Minister was briefed on their progress and expressed some satisfaction with the work carried out so far, Shahe Alam said.
He said the government had taken several initiatives to make Dhaka and other metropolitan cities cleaner, with different ministries and agencies working through various committees.
The committees formally began their work on October 27.
The state minister said various committees had placed a number of recommendations before the Prime Minister, with the involvement of senior citizens and retired officials in neighbourhood-level initiatives being among the most important proposals he accepted.
He said around 39,000 retired government officials and employees live in Dhaka, describing them as experienced citizens whose knowledge and services could be used for public welfare.
“The Prime Minister has directed us to involve these retired officials in the programme in every neighbourhood across the country. Committees will be formed at the neighbourhood level, where they will serve as advisers or take responsible positions. We also want to involve young people alongside them,” he said.
The retired officials and young volunteers will work with government officials to conduct awareness campaigns on dengue prevention, waste disposal, keeping footpaths free, improving drainage systems and proper household waste collection and delivery to secondary transfer stations (STSs), he added.
Shahe Alam said the initiative would be implemented soon as part of the Prime Minister's vision of “Clean Dhaka, Green Dhaka”.
Earlier, to monitor Dhaka's ongoing cleanliness activities directly from the Prime Minister's Office, committees were formed around the 20 regional offices of the two city corporations, under the leadership of directors of the Prime Minister's Office.
Each committee includes the respective city corporation's regional executive officer, an executive magistrate to conduct mobile courts if necessary, an engineer from the Public Works Department, an assistant director or director from RAJUK, and a director or assistant director from the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education to facilitate visits to educational institutions.
An inspector-level metropolitan police officer has also been included to coordinate law enforcement activities.
Officials responsible for waste management and executive engineers from the two city corporations are also members, along with representatives of the Directorate General of Health Services, the Directorate General of Medical Education and Dhaka WASA, as hospitals and medical colleges are also part of the programme.
The committee heads can co-opt additional members if they consider it necessary, the state minister said.
He said the committees were reconstituted following the Prime Minister's directives, after which the Prime Minister's Office held a meeting involving around 600 members to explain their responsibilities in monitoring cleanliness activities and making recommendations.
He said the 20 committees had so far visited 248 educational institutions to assess cleanliness and raise awareness among students.
Teachers were asked to discuss cleanliness and other awareness issues with students during physical training parades and guide them on their roles in tree plantation and maintaining clean surroundings.
The committees also visited 129 government and private hospitals and clinics, 112 government residential quarters, 152 markets and shopping complexes, and 188 roads, parks, footpaths and public spaces.
In addition, they inspected 130 other locations, including bus terminals, railway stations and railway settlements.
Shahe Alam said the Prime Minister had also directed the authorities to establish more secondary transfer stations (STSs) for household waste, as the existing facilities were inadequate for a city as large as Dhaka.
He said the Prime Minister had instructed the authorities to explore the possibility of setting up environmentally friendly STSs, including underground facilities, as residents often object to such installations over concerns about foul smells and environmental pollution.
Shahe Alam also praised the medical waste management system at icddr,b, describing it as the most modern facility of its kind in Dhaka.
He said a decision had been taken to examine whether this system could be made mandatory for all hospitals and clinics, including government facilities.
However, the meeting decided that the allocation of government accommodation could be cancelled if residents failed to take necessary steps to manage waste properly and continued to maintain unhygienic conditions, he said.
Shahe Alam also said the committees' activities would continue, while the Prime Minister would hold another review meeting after a month to assess further progress.
The state minister said the committees had also brought to the Prime Minister's attention a shortage of cleaning workers in Dhaka.
To address the shortage, the ministry has already approved the recruitment of 2,000 workers for Dhaka South City Corporation and 1,500 for Dhaka North City Corporation, he said.
The Prime Minister has directed the authorities to expedite these projects so that residents of the newly incorporated areas can be brought under the regular civic services available in the main city, Shahe Alam said.
Prime Minister's Press Secretary Saleh Shibly, Additional Press Secretary Atikur Rahman Rumon, Prime Minister's Office Director General (Administration) Abdul Wadud Chowdhury, Deputy Press Secretary-1 Jahidul Islam Roni and other members of the press wing were present at the briefing.