Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Coffee shop of freedom for trafficking victims

Kafé Mukti, a coffee shop of freedom was opened recently for the victims of human trafficking in the country to help them become self-reliant in life by providing them with jobs.

Four cafes managed by women victims of human trafficking were launched by International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Dhaka as a pilot project.

The first one was opened in North South University in Kemal Ataturk avenue in June last year. After its huge success three more cafes were opened on January 12.

Located in department of social welfare, department of women affairs and the secretariat building, these small coffee shops are already grabbing attention.

Eight women from shelter homes of Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM), the Bangladesh National Women Lawyers' Association (BNWLA) and Thengamara Mahila Sabuj Sangha (TMSS) were appointed at these coffee shops as managers and salesperson.

One of the managers of Kafe Mukti rescued from Jessore eight months ago said, “The biggest mistake of my life was to trust the wrong person with a bad intention. But I found hope after a long, long time. It feels as if I have been given a second chance in life”

Another lucky girl with a future plan said, “I plan to set things right now by using this opportunity. When I am ready I would like to buy some land and settled down”

Kafé Mukti is a venture of an IOM project “Prevention and Protection of Victims of Human Trafficking in Bangladesh”, which is supported by Bangladesh government, Norwegian and Danish Embassies in Dhaka. Nestle group provided with free coffee vending machines at these shops.

Zakia K Hassan, National Programme Officer of IOM said, “'As the name suggests, Kafé Mukti' is a symbol of self reliance and economic emancipation of the oppressed women. We plan to develop the café as a model for empowerment of women trafficking victims in Bangladesh”

“The society usually isolates these women. By making them self-reliant we want to give them back their dignity and lost status in the society. Creating acceptance is also a goal”, she added.

More coffee shops will be opened soon, she said. However, in the future the project aims to venture in other areas of trade and business as well to incorporate these women in to the mainstream with ease, she mentioned.

These women are also being trained in management and accountancy to run the cafes. In the future they will be introduced to many other traits including laundry, salesmanship, beauty salon service and more, she said.

Grants will also be provided to help them step forward with the newly obtained knowledge.

Portion of the profit earned from the cafes will be given to the managers. Part of it will be used to further expand the project.

The initiative would inspire others to create similar opportunities for women facing oppression in the society, Hassan hoped.
(source: The Daily Star

Govt to build 1 lakh flats, Mulls 11,000 plots in 3 housing projects

The government will construct over 1.03 lakh apartments and create over 11,000 residential plots in three government housing projects in the capital's suburbs in an effort to resolve an acute housing problem in the city.

State Minister for Housing and Public Works Abdul Mannan Khan yesterday disclosed the plan to the parliamentary standing committee on the ministry at a meeting in Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.

The parliamentary watchdog committee also formed a three-member sub-committee to look into alleged encroachment on city lakes.

ABM Fazle Karim Chowdhury, chairman of the committee, told reporters that the sub-committee was asked to submit its report within a month.

A different report submitted by the housing ministry to the committee, said 11,104 residential plots will be created in three residential projects -- Uttara, Purbachol, and Jhilimili.

The government will also build over 1,03,280 different types of apartments in those housing projects.

The report added that 62,000 of those apartments will be built under Purbachol Project, 21,000 will be built under Uttara Project, and 20,280 will be built under Jhilimili Project.

The state minister said the apartments will be distributed through a 'transparent process'.

The ministry report also said an additional 3,380 apartments will be built in Mirpur and Mohakhali for government employees.

The committee asked the chairman of Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) to submit a detailed report on how many and which apartment buildings were built on lands that were developed by filling up sections of lakes in the city's Gulshan, Banani and Uttara areas.

It also decided to publish a list of government residential plots which were re-allotted during the last BNP-led four-party alliance government and the successive immediate past caretaker government.

The committee asked the National Housing Authority to take steps to reclaim 130 acres of government land in Mirpur area, which were encroached upon by Sagufta Housing Company, Haveli Properties, and some other individuals.

Emerging from the meeting Mannan Khan told reporters that the government is also determined to complete the Hatirjheel Project within the deadline of June 2010 by any means.

He said steps will be taken so people who will be affected by the water body reclamation project can be compensated.

The immediate past caretaker government initiated Hatirjheel Project in 2007 to clear illegal structures in Hatirjheel and Begunbari areas which used to be major outlets for the city's wastewater.

The Awami League government is continuing the project which includes protection of water bodies, construction of roads, and beautification of the area.

Land acquisition for the project is almost complete, the state minister said.

The government already handed over around Tk 488 crore to the deputy commissioner of Dhaka to compensate the people who will lose their land due to the implementation of the Hatirjheel Project.

Thursday, April 16, 2009

79,616 licensed rickshaws ply city roads

As many as 79,616 City Corporation license holding rickshaws ply on different roads of the city whereas a good number of rickshaws without authorization also run on the roads.
There is mushroom growth of rickshaw garages in the city's suburban areas where a good number of rickshaws are kept and are being illegally manufactured. Buying all types of machinery needed for making rickshaw and arranging carpenters, owners of rickshaw have been manufacturing rickshaws since long and push these on roads without authorization. Generally they purchase parts from Tejgaon and Gulistan markets where all parts for rickshaw are available. Besides, they arrange rickshaw pullers on conditions that rickshaw pullers pay Tk 80 to owners per day and some advance money is also paid to rickshaw pullers to paddle rickshaws for at least one year. However, every day a rickshaw puller earns about Tk 300-350.
Mamotaz Uddin, owner of a rickshaw garage at Khilgaon, said he has about sixty rickshaws and all the rickshaws were made in his garage. He had to spend about Tk 14,000 to 20,000 for manufacturing and registration each rickshaw. Nevertheless he never went to Dhaka City Corporation bhaban (DCC) for taking registration of rickshaws as all the registration numbers were managed by brokers in exchange for money. Expressing grave concern, he said that every year at least 2-3 rickshaws were stolen. Despite forming "rickshaw thief preventing committee", it is not being possible to prevent stealing.
"We are poor people running rickshaws on the roads to earn our livelihood. It is very painful that we have to be victim of theft and snatchers on the way. If a rickshaw is stolen once we don't have capability to manage another," said a rickshaw puller.
Talking to this correspondent, an officer of wheel tax department of DCC said that to capture illegal rickshaws, DCC has taken actions and the actions continue. Besides, DCC cancels registration of those rickshaw owners who fail to renew registration every year.

Sunday, April 5, 2009

80 pc water misused in city: Experts

About 80 per cent of the water supplied in the city is being misused simply for lack of awareness of the users, experts told a discussion here yesterday.
They said the city dwellers consciously or unconsciously misuse 80 per cent of the water which is nearly pure or could be used with simple purification.
The discussion titled 'Water Problem of Dhaka city: Citizens' Views' was jointly organised by two NGOs-Actionaid and Nagorik Sanghati-at the National Press Club.
Chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on LGRD Ministry Advocate Rahmat Ali spoke at the programme as chief guest with Nagorik Sanghati President Prof Dr ASM Atiqur Rahman in the chair.
Advocate Sanzida Khanam, MP, Shaheda Tareq, MP, former WASA Chief Engineer Qazi Muhammad Shish, Prof Shahidul Islam and water expert Prof Moniruzzaman Mia, among others, spoke at the discussion.
They said a comprehensive water management policy is needed to resolve the city's water crisis, especially drinking water, and emphasized public-private partnership and building rainwater reserve bodies.
Rahmat Ali, however, said it is unlikely that the water supply problem would be solved any time soon but the government has taken effective plans to tackle the crisis.
He said the government would solve the water problem in the city in phases by 2013 and water would be brought from the Bay, if necessary, by setting up desalinating plants.
Engineer Sardar Amin said lack of coordination among different ministries and officials concerned has made the water supply even more fragile. "The government should take an inclusive step so that industrial wastes cannot pollute the rivers nearby Dhaka city."
The government, he said, should form an inter-ministerial committee involving Water Resources, Foreign, Food, Agriculture, River and Industries and other ministries concerned and WASA, BSTI and other establishments concerned to deal with the problem.

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