Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday (April 05, 2023) said the government will assist the Bangabazar businesspeople as much as possible after estimating the damages caused by Tuesday’s fire. “I’ve already assured that we will help them as much as we can. We’ll assess who incurred how much loss,” she said addressing an event at her official residence Ganabhaban. The event was arranged to receive Tk 316.91 crore as first and second installments of the loan provided by the government for construction of Padma Bridge. Road Transport and Bridge Minister Obaidul Quader handed over a cheque of Tk 316,90,97,049 to the Prime Minister as the first and second installments of the loan taken from Bangladesh Bank at a low interest rate under an agreement signed between the Finance Division and the Bangladesh Bridge Authority. Read More: Repayment of Padma Bridge loan starts with Tk 316.91 crore given to govt Terming the fire as a very tragic incident, Hasina said it is too much to bear the suffering and crying of so many businesspeople ahead of the Eid-ul Fitr. She said the government undertook a project to construct a planned market there following the fire incidents in 1995 and 2018. But a good number of people obstructed it and filed a writ petition and then the High Court stayed the project. “Hadn’t it (the project) been stayed at that time, we could have built a good market and then such a terrible accident would not have happened,” she said. The premier, however, lambasted a number of unruly people who attacked nearby the headquarters of the fire service. Their behavior has angered her, she said. Read More: Bangabazar blaze: DSCC forms probe committee  The firefighters rushed to the spot soon after fire broke out to extinguish the blaze. The PM said she asked to identify the attackers and take proper action against them. “Proper action will be taken against them. Case will be filed against them,” she said. She said if anyone attacks the members or vehicles of the fire service or other public property in future, they won’t be spared.

Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) wants Tk 1500 crore assistance from the government to pay workers’ bonus and salaries ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr. The knitwear factory owners’ association claimed that the export-oriented sector may be in dire straits over paying workers ahead of Eid if the financial assistance is not provided. BKMEA has sent a letter regarding the financial assistance to the senior secretary at Finance Division, under the Ministry of Finance. The letter, signed by BKMEA President AKM Salim Osman, on March 30 made a request to the government for cash assistance. Read more: Payments to 3,428 garment workers, families approved from Central Fund BKMEA Executive Vice President Muhammad Hatem confirmed the development to UNB today (April 02, 2023). The letter stated that global economy is in an adverse situation due to the Russia-Ukraine war. Bangladesh’s export sector is going through a challenging time during this struggle for survival as well. Due to the ongoing global recession, most factories do not have enough work orders, so production is running at 50 to 60 percent capacity. It has become difficult to pay the workers’ salaries at the end of the month, BKMEA mentioned in the letter. International buyers are also not paying their dues on time for the products already being exported. There is huge pressure regarding paying salaries and Eid bonus this month, the letter added. “In such a situation, it will be very difficult to handle this pressure without the cooperation of the government and the finance department,” BKMEA said. Read More: Selim Osman elected as BKMEA president for 6th term

The government has allocated assistance to repair or rebuild just 6,000 houses damaged in the recent floods in Sylhet, even though more than 40,000 houses were damaged. According to the government's own figures, 40,091 houses were damaged in Sylhet district. In reality, the number of damaged houses is believed to be even higher. That means only 15 percent of damaged house owners received the grant. According to the district administration, a total of 4,84,383 families were affected by the flood in Sylhet. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has allocated Tk 5 crore for the construction of damaged houses. And of that allocation, Tk 10,000 each has been distributed to 5,000 affected house owners. Besides, the government has allocated more than Tk 60 lakh and 2000 bundles of Corrugated iron sheets that were distributed among a further 1,000 affected house owners. Meanwhile, Dilu Miah, a resident of Shimultala Guchhgram of Companiganj Upazila, said he cannot repair the house like other victims in this area as he didn’t receive any government grants. Read: Almost 3,500 families marooned in Satkhira Sylhet Deputy Commissioner (DC) Md Mojibur Rahman said all the affected houses listed by the government will get financial assistance. The Finance Ministry's Social Development Foundation (SDF) is allocating Tk 6 crore for the construction of houses in Kanaighat and Goainghat upazilas of the district soon, he said. “In phases, the affected house owners will get the assistance to reconstruct the houses.” Sylhet was hit by the first round of floods last May. After that, the flood hit this region again on June 15. The flood situation remains unchanged in at least 30 percent of the district.