BNP on Wednesday alleged that Dhaka city is facing the worst dengue outbreak due to the apathy of unelected and irresponsible mayors and commissioners of the two city corporations whose main aim is to loot money instead of serving the people.

Speaking at a blood donation programme for dengue patients, party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir also demanded the resignation of the mayors of Dhaka South and North city corporations for their failure to tackle the dengue situation and ensure the health safety of the dwellers of the two cities.

“The government and the two city corporations have completely failed to control the dengue epidemic. They’re actually completely failing to provide healthcare,” he said.

Fakhrul also said the country’s people witnessed extreme anarchy and corruption in the health sector during the Covid period.

"It has been exposed again now. There’s massive corruption in the name of procuring the pesticides and medicines to kill Aedes mosquitoes by the city corporations. It turns out that those medicines are worthless and not helping to kill mosquitoes,” he said

BNP executive committee member Tabith Awwal, who contested the last Dhaka north city corporation polls as a BNP mayoral candidate, arranged the blood donation programme at Health and Hope Hospital to stand by the dengue-affected people as the two city corporations are grappling with a serious dengue outbreak.

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Fakhrul said the main problem is that the mayors and commissioners of the two city corporations are unelected and they have no accountability to people.

“That is why they have completely failed to solve this problem. They have no focus on it. Their focus is on indulging in corruption and massing money.”

As a result, he said the health ministers, mayors, and responsible public representatives have gone abroad with their families for vacation.

“Electing the mayors of the people and ensuring people’s voting rights is the only way to get rid of the current situation…we must install a people’s government changing the current one through a fair election under a non-party neutral government,” the BNP leader said.

Earlier, Fakhrul inaugurated another blood donation programme at Samaritan Hospital arranged by Ishraque Hossain, who vied for the mayoral post in Dhaka south city polls in 2018.

Speaking at the programme, Fakhrul said dengue has spread like an epidemic not only in Dhaka but also across the country, killing more than 600 people.

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“Many people are getting infected with Dengue every day. Children are in a helpless situation as they are not getting proper treatment,” he observed.

Traffic worsens after elevated expressway opening

Fakhrul alleged that the elevated expressway opened by the Prime Minister on Saturday has made the traffic jams in the capital more acute.

“Elevated expressway is now a problem for people. When you’re coming down from the elevated expressway, the traffic jam turns so acute that it is not possible to cross Farmgate by two hours,” he said.

On Saturday last, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the 11.5 km Airport- Farmgate segment of 19.73-km Dhaka Elevated Expressway, raising hopes of reducing traffic congestion in the capital.

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Amid a serious outbreak of dengue outbreak, Tabith and Ishraq organized the blood donation programme to meet the growing demand for blood to treat critical dengue patients.