Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has reiterated that the ongoing drive against militancy, terrorism, drugs and corruption would continue, and that action would be taken against people involved in crimes.
“Action will be taken against whoever is involved [in these crimes] irrespective of their political and family identities,” she said, while addressing inauguration ceremony of the official broadcasting of local private television channels through Bangabandhu Satellite 1 at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka on Wednesday.
She said the government was trying to “catch and destroy termites” that eat up development project funds.
“We’ve been making efforts to catch and destroy these ‘termites’ as well as ensuring the proper use of every taka of the hard-earned public money for the country’s development,” she added.
The prime minister said funds were sometimes embezzled by corrupt people during undertaking and implementation of development projects.
She urged the leaders of the Association of Television Channel Owners to be alert regarding broadcast of propaganda as it creates confusion among people.
“I’ve no objection if you talk against us [government] or criticize us. But please remain careful about false propaganda,” she said.
Information Minister Hasan Mahmud also spoke as the special guest at the event presided over by Post and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar.
At the function, commercial deeds over broadcasting using Bangabandhu Satellite 1 were exchanged between the private television channels and state-owned Bangladesh Communication Satellite Company.
Bangladesh joined the elite satellite club as the 57th nation by launching its first geostationary communications and broadcasting satellite — Bangabandhu Satellite 1 — into orbit from Kennedy Space Center in the US in May last year.
About the satellite, the prime minister said Bangladesh reached a new height by sending it into space, and added that the satellite will remove many barriers for broadcast.
“The broadcasting of the country’s channels through the satellite has opened up a new dimension,” she said, adding that money spent by private channels for using foreign satellites would be saved now.
Half of the satellite’s 40 transponders are currently being used. Hasina said the government has offered neighbouring countries to rent the remaining transponders so that Bangladesh can earn money.
She said the satellite can effectively be used in facing any disaster, reaching telemedicine services, and spreading e-education system to the very remote areas, including inaccessible hills and haors.
The satellite can also be used for navigation and aerospace research, she added.
The prime minister said her government has already started the process to launch the second satellite. The life span of Bangabandhu Satellite 1 is 15 years.
