PM's gesture to mayor raises hopes

Chittagong City Mayor A. B. M. Mohiuddin Chowdhury was sitting in the front row at a reception ceremony. The prime minister showed the courtesy by calling Mohiuddin Chowdhury to sit on the dais with her. And, in her chief guest speech she urged the mayor in unambiguous terms that he had nothing to be afraid of, that he should continue to do the good works he had been doing, and that the government would help him materialise his goals.

Many present in the meeting were happy at this gesture of head of the government and many wrote in newspapers about it positively, saying that it was the beginning of a new era of co-operation.

Chittagong has been in a paradoxical situation over the last two years. As the government was Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the mayor was Awami League (AL), development projects were often hindered because of a lack of mutual trust. As a result, the city and its people suffered.

But the mayor is a vastly dynamic man. Nothing but the good of Chittagong is always on his mind. His political acumen is also of the highest order. So, he started repairing the damages. Chittagong boasts of being the home district of a number of cabinet ministers and a couple of deputy ministers. The mayor took efforts to achieve an understanding with them by inviting them frequently to come and visit the various development projects he has undertaken.

On the occasion of opening of the Chaktai Khal redigging project, he invited Food Minister Abdullah Al Noman as the chief guest. He also established a good rapport with Commerce Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury. In the high quarters of the government, there slowly grew a positive assessment and appreciation about the mayor's altruistic vision of society. The vast popularity of Mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury did not either escape the notice of the government.

In an active political democracy, the understanding between the opposition and the ruling party bears visible positive fruits. Mutual appreciation for each other ultimately benefits the common people of the society. The PM's well-motivated gesture and the mayor's well-constructed response to it will produce pragmatic results for Chittagong. We have to only wait for them.

So far, in the first two years of BNP rule, Chittagong has suffered terribly in seven sectors.

These are: Life Security (abduction of Jamaluddin, snatching and robbery), Utilities (water and power areas going without water, and extensive loadshedding), Chittagong Port (ship accident, SSA port debate), Road condition (broken roads, flooding of roads during rain, and Bahaddarhat Traffic Jam), Food price and quality restaurants selling rotten food), Housing and Construction Problems (developers occupying footpath with building materials), and Lack of entertainment facilities (England cricket team has refused to stay extra days in Chittagong).

We all hope that with the renewed sense of co-operation established between the PM and the mayor, the problems mentioned above will be reduced to a significant degree.