Desk Report:

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday asked all ministries concerned to remain vigilant about the ongoing unrest in the Middle East due to Iran-Israel tension and take necessary steps to tackle any adverse effect in Bangladesh.

“The honorable Prime Minister urged all concerned, including cabinet members and ministries, to keep sharp eyes on the reality (triggered by Iran-Israel unrest) prevailing in the Middle East and take necessary preparations for the possible impacts on us in this regard,” said Cabinet Secretary Md Mahbub Hossain.

He was addressing a press conference at the Secretariat this afternoon after the cabinet meeting held at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).

Mahbub said the premier also urged the concerned ministries to start taking preparations to tackle the possible impact in Bangladesh induced by the unrest in the Middle East.

In the meeting, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked the concerned authorities to decide quickly whether the previous decisions which are under implementation would be implemented or not, he added.

She asked the authorities concerned to inform the cabinet in detail about the under-implementation decisions citing the reasons if these are not implementable, the cabinet secretary said.

Noting that 16 laws are yet to be delisted in the country, Mahbub said the premier instructed the concerned ministries to take steps to delist the laws soon.

The cabinet secretary said that the cabinet gave in principle and final approvals to drafts of ‘The Moheshkhali Integrated Development Authority (MIDA) Act, 2024’ and ‘The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Remuneration and Privileges) Act, 2024’.

He said the principal secretary of the PMO placed the draft of the MIDA Act in the cabinet aimed at forming an authority to carry out the ongoing development activities centering the Matarbari deep sea port in Moheshkhali in an integrated process.

Under the law, Mahbub said, Prime Minister will be the chairman of the governing board of the authority while it will be governed by a 17-member board.

Apart from the governing board, the government will appoint a principal executive officer who will run the office as the chief executive officer, he added.

The main objective of the authority will be preparing a master plan for the specific area of around 55,968 acres of land and implementing it, the cabinet secretary said, adding, the prime target of forming the authority is to bring discipline in the development activities there to promote foreign investments and turn the area into a development hub.

Speaking about ‘The Chief Election Commissioner and other Election Commissioners (Remuneration and Privileges) Act, 2024’, he said it is basically the Bangla version of the existing English one and there is no change in this version.