Food for all govt's main target: Syed Ashraf

Awami League general secretary and LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam today said the main goal of the government is to ensure food for all for transforming Bangladesh into a self-reliant country within the nest year.

"The government has been working relentlessly to achieve the target for self-sufficiency in food to honour its pre-poll commitment and its vision-2021 to present a happy and dignified life for people," he said while speaking as the chief guest at a workshop in the city.

Syed Ashraf said, "The government is determined to build a hunger, poverty and illiteracy-free Bangladesh by 2014 and a 'digital Bangladesh' within 2021."

The LGRD minister said this while inaugurating a seminar on "Infrastructure in haor areas and improvement of the standard of life" at the LGED Bhaban auditorium in the city.

The IFAD, the Spanish Trust and the Local Government Engineering Directorate (LGED) jointly organised the workshop.

Syed Ashraf said the government has constructed and developed 5,468 kilometres of upazila roads, 5,064 kilometres of union roads and 3,646 kilometres of village roads and a total of 12,761 metre-long bridges and culverts across the country over the past three years and six months in office.

Besides, he said some 481 growth centres and 517 hat-bazars were developed over the aforesaid period.

The minister said under the small water resources development programme, a total of 50,250 hectares of land has been brought under irrigation with the implementation of 82 sub- projects while 757 Union Parishad complexes had been constructed during the period.

He said the LGED has been implementing three earmarked projects for improvement of the standard of life for the dwellers of shoal areas of Barisal, Patuakhali, Bhola, Noakhali and Laxmipur districts.

Chief Engineer of LGED Md Wahidur Rahman chaired the function that was also attended by Local Government Division secretary Abu Alam Md Shaheed Khan, IFAD president Kenwa F Wanji and project director Sheikh Md Mohsin as the special guests.

Later, a power point presentation on the Narasunda River Development Project in Kishoreganj district was witnessed by the chief guest, special guests and others attendants of the inaugural ceremony.