EVERY time a foreign delegation visits Bangladesh, the head of delegation along with representative of the concerned embassy calls on the head of the state or the government and discusses bilateral issues including probable investments. Dhaka airport is the gateway for entry to Bangladesh but it takes around two to three hours for the visitors to reach the city centre although the distance is only 16 kilometres. There is no taxi service worth its name and the city roads are too bad to be described. Although both the city mayors often speak about development work in the city, but nothing happens. I remember during my 33 years in new Eskaton area that many foreign tourists-cum-investors used to offer prayers in churches located in New Eskaton on Sundays. Unfortunately roads and footpaths are no longer in good shape. One has to look for location of footpaths that existed several years ago. Sonargaon Hotel area is surrounded by beggars and trans-genders like Hijra who often try to snatch valuables and compel anybody and everybody to pay a few bucks and even dollars. Something should be done by city Mayors and concerned ministries so that the foreign visitors are not harassed by us and they feel comfortable to invest here and help us raise our GDP to our expected level.
Mahmud Ali
New Eskaton Road,
Dhaka
