Planning minister MA Mannan vented his frustration via a Facebook post on Sunday over the role of foreign minister (FM) Abdul Momen regarding a proposed railway line project from Sunamganj to Chhatak.
The minister said they have been friends for over 50 years and the colleagues at cabinet. But the role the FM Momen has played is not ‘expected in normal condition’.
The status has been posted on Facebook on Sunday evening from a page titled ‘office of planning minister’.
According to that status, minister Momen didn’t discuss the issue of proposing rail line from Sunamganj to Chhatak with MA Mannan, also a parliamentarian from Sunamganj, before writing a demi official (DO) letter on it.
MA Mannan wrote: “It's true Dr Momen and I have been friends for over 50 years now. But his writing a hasty DO to Railways Minister supporting the stand of the 5 other MPs of Sunamganj including a Jatio Party MP has taken me by surprise. He very well knows I am also an MP from Sunamganj. He knows this matter of rail connection with Sunamganj also concerns me. I know more about this issue than he. I don't think he has ever set foot on Sunamganj soil in his long and colourful life. Any other person in this situation would have checked it with me before taking a side in this matter. For a friend of 50 years and a cabinet colleague, this would not be expected in normal condition.”
When asked, planning minister told Prothom Alo that he posted this status to resolve the complexities surfaced over setting up the rail line.
He said, “I am now in my area (constituency). There are different kinds of talks regarding the rail line. I want let the matter be ended here. The foreign minister is my colleague, had he wanted, he would have talked with me in this regard.”
Centering the matter, the foreign minister also posted a status on 14 June where he wrote, “Mannan is my friend and we have been friends for over 50 years. A local newspaper published a report claiming that there is a conflict between I and MA Mannan that mars the development in Sylhet. That is false and fabricated.”
“Whoever had done this, did it with an evil motive,” he added.
It is learnt that there is supposed to be a railway line from Sunamganj to Chhatak.
The railway minister talked to the planning minister to determine the route of the railway. The planning minister said that the route should be done in a way that is profitable and there is no harm to the environment.