PM urges citizens to spend one hour a week to clean home and workplace

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Saturday launched a three-month nationwide dengue prevention and cleanliness campaign at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban in Dhaka, urging citizens to spend at least one hour each week cleaning their homes, schools, colleges and institutions.

Tarique Rahman said regular participation in cleanliness work could bring rapid change and help keep individuals, families, society and the country healthy.

“Perhaps no one will say anything if someone throws a piece of rubbish on a field or road. But such waste gradually accumulates and turns into garbage,” he said. “Disease-causing germs spread from there and people fall ill.”

The prime minister urged people not to dump waste indiscriminately and said those who litter should be discouraged.

“If we spend one hour every week cleaning our homes, schools, colleges or institutions, we will certainly be able to bring about this change quickly,” Tarique Rahman said.

Calling on all sections of society to address the dengue situation, he said, “Let us rebuild the state and the country this time. Let us try to solve our dengue problem over the next three months. We may not be able to achieve 100 per cent, but we can achieve at least 80 per cent.”

Tarique Rahman said discarded scrap materials, paper, plastic and earthen items can collect water and become breeding grounds for Aedes mosquitoes. Collective efforts could change the situation, he added.

Highlighting the role of young people, the prime minister said Bangladesh’s youth demonstrated to the world on August 5, 2024, that they could bring about change. “The youth were the ones who initiated the change,” he said.

Bangladesh has around 2.3 million Scouts members and 22,000 Bangladesh National Cadet Corps (BNCC) members, Tarique Rahman said. Addressing Girl Guides, BNCC members, Scouts and volunteers, he said, “We have to build this country. We have come together with one goal. That is the goal of building the country.”

Md Abdus Salam, convener of the implementation committee for the nationwide dengue prevention and cleanliness campaign and administrator of Dhaka South City Corporation, delivered the welcome address.

Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Abdul Moin Khan, Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Hossain, and Information and Broadcasting Minister Barrister Andaleeve Rahman Partho also spoke, along with ministers and state ministers from relevant ministries.

Prime Minister’s advisers, Chief Secretary ABM Abdus Sattar, officials from public and private offices, city corporation officials and sanitation workers, students, members of volunteer organisations and journalists attended the event. Officials from district and upazila administrations across the country joined online.