Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader today said the government is mulling over closing educational institutions in view of the coronavirus outbreak.

"Closing schools and colleges is being discussed at the high level of the government. We are closely monitoring the situation. We will take necessary steps at the right time," he said.

Quader, also Awami League general secretary, came up with the statements at a press conference after an AL secretariat meeting on celebration of the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the party president's political office at Dhanmondi in the city.

Noting that so far 149 countries across the globe have been affected by the virus, he said, "The coronavirus has created panic and anxiety across the world. Our people are also anxious about the disease."

Chinese authorities, however, sent a letter to the Bangladesh government sharing their experiences on controlling the disease as the epicentre of the virus, the minister said, adding that Bangladesh is ready to combat the disease as the government as well as AL are prepared as per directives of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

About the progress of the Padma Bridge construction work, Quader said 26 spans out of 41 have already been installed.

Informing that about 250 Chinese workers, out of some 1,000, had gone home on leave and some of them have already returned, he said the construction work of the bridge will face no problem even if the coronavirus-related situation prevails for two more months.

The work is progressing as per the target of completing the construction by June 2021, Quader said, adding, "Installation of all 41 spans will be completed by July this year."

The general secretary of ruling Awami League Obaidul Quader today said no instance of vote rigging or forgery was reported by any observers in the recently concluded Dhaka city polls.

The elections were peaceful despite one or two incidents, remarked Quader, also the Road Transport and Bridges minister while briefing journalists at the secretariat after a meeting of his ministry.

The minister further praised the use of Electronic Voting Machines (EVM) in the polls and said it was used to tackle vote rigging and forgery and Election Commission (EC) has been successful in this regard.

Meanwhile, questioned on BNP Secretary General’s call for cancellation of the results of the two city corporation elections, Quader said: “I do not know why Mirza Fakhrul was so angry. Maybe he (Fakhrul) did not achieve anything in the city polls.”

Awami League mayoral candidates Atiqul Islam and Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh were unofficially declared elected in the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) elections respectively held on February 1.

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader today said his party lacks true activists, pointing out the growing number of leaders, who he said were mostly driven by greed for power and money.

 "It appears that the number of activists in the party is decreasing and that of leaders is increasing. We don't need so many leaders. What we need now are true activists," he said.

Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister, was addressing the triennial council of Rajshahi city unit of AL at Madrassa Maidan in Rajshahi, reports our staff correspondent.

"One can understand the scenario by looking at the tiers [of the ruling party]. We've no lack of leaders. Billboards on the streets portray pictures of leaders. Many of the leaders are not even well-known among the people; they made themselves leaders," Quader said.

It was once difficult to gather a hundred people to bring out a procession in Rajshahi, but now, more than a hundred people are found on the stage in public meetings, he added.

He said most of them are driven by greed for power and money, and these opportunists would leave the party during its bad times.

"Leaders must let go of greed for power and money, following the ideologies of Bangabandhu," he said.

He suggested that the party select its leaders wisely, as conspiracies are on to destabilise the country's peace.

Later, the AL leader abolished the present committee of the party's Rajshahi unit. He announced the new members of the committee with Rajshahi Mayor AHM Khairuzzman Liton as the president and Dablu Sarker as its general secretary.

He asked the new leaders to declare the full committee within a month.

Action will be taken against those misusing the digital security act, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said today.

He also said the home ministry will remain careful so that the law is not being misused.

Quader, also general secretary of Awami League, was addressing reporters at a briefing at his official residence, said a press release.

As the shopping malls and markets reopened on a limited scale, he urged everyone to maintain distancing and follow health guidelines while shopping.

He said mass allegations of rice theft against public representatives was not true, mentioning there are 61,569 public representatives at different levels in the country.

"Action has been taken against those who are guilty regardless of their political background. Gross allegations of relief embezzlement is not true," he added.

The road transport and bridges minister said following directives from the prime minister, so far, cash and relief goods have been distributed among four crore people across the country.