BNP lawmaker from reserved seats for women in the parliament, Rumeen Farhana, has said the incident of fire and explosion at Sitakunda's BM container depot is not mere an accident, rather it is a murder.
She blamed the negligence of the owners for the incident and said no action has been taken against the perpetrators although two days have already elapsed.
Mujibur Rahman, director of the depot, is a treasurer of Chattogram south unit Awami League and this is his source of power. Perhaps he did not feel to abide by any rules and regulations holding a post of the ruling party, she added.
Rumeen made the remark on a point of order in the parliament on Monday.
Rumeen Farhana demanded an immediate legal action against owners of the depot.
The department of explosives said they were not informed about storing chemicals in that depot. Special infrastructure is required for storing such type of chemicals, but that sort of arrangement was unavailable in that depot. Chemical was stored without any approval.
Owners of depot said they were not informed about keeping chemicals in the depot and they would take different measures to extinguish fire if they were aware of it, Rumeen Farhana quoted the fire service as saying. The fire service also said the death of firefighters could be avoided and so many people including the firefighters died due to the sheer negligence of the owners of the depot.
Rumeen said there is no culture of resignation admitting failure. She demanded resignation of the state minister for shipping.
The BNP lawmaker said 124 people died in Nimtali fire in 2010. No case was filed in connection with the incident. A general diary was filed, and its investigation still continues. The same is happening in such other incidents, she added.
Rumeen Farhana said 111 people died in fire at Tazreen Fashion in Ashulia. The main accused is Delwar Hossin, managing director of Tazreen Fashion. Ten years have already elapsed, but there is no resolution of the case. On the contrary, Delwar has been elected president of Dhaka Mohanagar Uttaar Matshyajibi League.