Md. Dulal Hossain Raju Jaintapur (Sylhet)

Minister of Labor, Employment and Expatriates' Welfare, Sylhet-4 MP Ariful Haque Chowdhury said that within the next month, visible progress will be seen in the project to upgrade the Sylhet-Tamabil highway to four lanes. At the same time, work on the railway line construction project from Sylhet to Jaflong will also visibly begin.

He made these remarks while talking to reporters after examining the feasibility of building a possible railway line from Sylhet to Jaflong.

On Saturday ( afternoon, Minister Ariful Haque Chowdhury arrived in Jaflong by bus with Railway Ministry Secretary Md. Fahimul Islam, Labor and Employment Ministry Secretary Md. Abdur Rahman Tarafdar, and Bangladesh Railway Director General Md. Afzal Hossain.

Earlier, the minister inspected the progress of the ongoing work on the Sylhet-Tamabil highway four-lane upgrade project. Later, along with the Secretary of the Railway Ministry and concerned officials, he inspected and verified the feasibility of the possible route for constructing the railway line up to Jaflong.

After the inspection, Ariful Haque Chowdhury said that if the Sylhet-Jaflong railway line is launched, the travel of domestic and foreign tourists to Jaflong will be easy and comfortable. At the same time, a new momentum will be created in the tourism industry of this region. Along with the expansion of the tourism-dependent economy, new employment opportunities will be created for local laborers and marginalized people. This will not only develop the tourism industry, but also enable low-cost and fast transportation of goods through train freight wagons. At the same time, he expressed hope that the economic activities of the entire region, including Gowainghat, will become more dynamic.

Responding to a question from journalists regarding employment abroad, Minister Ariful Haque said, "According to the government's plan, one crore people of the country will be brought under the employment umbrella of skilled manpower abroad. For this purpose, initiatives have been taken to establish two training centers in Gowainghat. These centers will provide training to local youth in various trades, creating opportunities for employment abroad without brokers and under government management."

At this time, Secretary of the Ministry of Railways Md. Fahimul Islam, Secretary of the Ministry of Labor and Employment Md. Abdur Rahman, Director General of Bangladesh Railways Md. Afzal Hossain, Secretary of the Road Transport and Highways Department Dr. Ziaul Haque, Head of the Physical Infrastructure Department Kabir Ahmed, Chief Engineer of the Roads and Highways Department Syed Moinul Hasan, Chief Engineer of the Local Government Engineering Department Md. Belal Hossain and senior officials of the concerned ministries and railways were present.