By
Dhaka-6 Constituency Member of Parliament Mohammad Saeed Khokon commented and said that Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Tapas gave a 'mangra' speech about the number of dengue cases in the capital.
He made this comment at Meet the Press at Zahur Hossain Chowdhury Hall of Jatiya Press Club on Saturday. Mayor Mohammad Hanif Memorial Foundation organized this meet the press titled 'South Dhaka was ahead, looking back at memory pages'.
In an event last Wednesday, Dhaka South City Corporation Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Tapos said that the number of dengue patients in Dhaka in 2023 was 42 thousand less than in 2019.
Referring to this topic, Saeed Khokon said that according to the information of the Department of Health, the number of dengue patients admitted to hospitals in the country from January 2019 to December 31 was 1 lakh 1 thousand 354. Among them, the number of patients in Dhaka city was 51 thousand 810, and outside 49 thousand. On the other hand, the number of dengue deaths and cases in the country last year (2023) surpassed all previous records. Only until the last week of September 2023, the number of deaths due to dengue in the country did not occur in the previous 22 years.
He said that last year (2023) 3 lakh 21 thousand 179 people were infected with dengue in the country. Among them, 1 lakh 10 thousand 8 people were infected in Dhaka City. And the remaining 2 lakh 11 thousand 171 people were infected outside Dhaka. Besides, 1 thousand 705 people died due to dengue last year. Among them, 980 people died in Dhaka. As a result, there were 58 thousand 198 patients more in 2023 than in 2019. But such information of his (Tapas) has created confusion among the citizens.
Pointing to DSCC Mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Tapas, Syed Khokon said, the sad thing is that a responsible person of the South City Authority has spread misleading information about dengue cases a few days ago. He (Mayor Tapas) said that compared to 2019, the number of dengue cases in Dhaka city was 42 thousand less in 2023. Later, various media reports of the country published that his statement was wrong.
Pointing to Mayor Tapas, he said, I am ready to cooperate, I am ready to go to cooperate if called.
In response to a question from journalists, former mayor of DSCC Mohammad Saeed Khokon said, I may not have been able to collect tax-VAT during my tenure as the mayor of Dhaka South City Corporation. But I tried to reduce the suffering of the city dwellers. Because according to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's instructions, reducing public suffering was my main responsibility. But now the city authorities are extorting money from rickshaws, CNG, vegetable-carrying truck-lorries in the name of revenue collection or city toll. It was not like that in my time.
Bangladesh /MP
