Process of exposure to justice of 1971 war criminals has begun: Sheikh Hasin

July 24,2010

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina promised continued government supports for the victims of cyclone Aila that ravaged parts of the south-western region in 2009 as she visited the affected areas to oversee the rehabilitation campaigns. "The government supports for increased agricultural yields as well as poultry and livestock sub-sectors will continue for livelihood development of the cyclone affected people," she told yesterday at a huge public rally at Shyamnagar upazila where she also distributed homebuilding grants among the cyclone victims. Thousands of people joined the rally defying heavy rains at the HC Pilot High School where Sheikh Hasina urged the cyclone victims to earn self- reliance taking the advantage of the government supports. In a nearly identical rally at Bagali union parishad maidan at neighbouring Koira upazila of Khulna, she urged people to launch a massive afforestation campaign to supplement government initiatives to develop a greenbelt in coastlines to minimize onslaughts of cyclones and tidal surges in particular. The premier flew in a low altitude in an air force helicopter to get a bird's eye view of the current state of the devastated areas and the reconstruction campaign at the affected four upazilas of Khulna and Satkhira. In both the rallies, she said the deadly cyclone Sidr and the subsequent Aila ravaged the south-western region and left a mark of their wraths through creating water logging at several places. The premier said the government took a massive programme to remove the water stagnation alongside the campaign for regaining the navigability of rivers through dredging. But she asked the concerned officials as well as the local people to ensure appropriate steps to stop intrusion of saline waters in floodplains particularly through severing cyclone or tidal surge protection embankments near the coastlines for shrimp cultivation.