Continuation of govt a must for dev: PM

Mentioning that the government wants peace and security of the people, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today said the continuation of the government is very much needed for development of the country.

"We're accomplishing the development work as we remain in state power for nine years at a stretch from 2009 to 2017. So the continuation of the government is a must for uplift," she said.

Sheikh Hasina also renewed her pledge to ensure housing for all, saying that none will remain homeless in the country. "Our policy is clear that there will not be a single person to remain homeless in Bangladesh," she said.

The prime minister said this while laying the foundation stone of the first-ever rental-based flat construction project for slum-dwellers in city's Mirpur.

She laid the foundation stone of the project through video-conferencing from her official Ganabhaban residence here this morning.

Through the same function, the prime minister laid the foundation stone of the first-ever residential flat construction project on the abandoned houses at Dhanmondi and Mohammadpur in the capital.

The premier said the government has contained militancy and terrorism with iron hands. "We want peace and security of the people and we got enough time for development as we won in the 2014 general elections," she said.

Sheikh Hasina said the BNP-Jamaat government stopped all works that the previous Awami League government started in 1996. "The BNP-Jamaat after coming to power in 2001 didn't take any single work forward ... they destroyed everything by plundering," she said.

The prime minister said the country's development was accelerated as the people cast vote for Awami League in 2014 braving all hurdles.

"Bangladesh is now a role model of development ... we want to take the country ahead further and we want Bangladesh to be established as a poverty-free developed Bangladesh," she said, thanking all the people of the country for giving a mandate to her party in the last polls.