Chasik’s Budget Proposal-2021-2022: Conviction to build a city of comfort and ease for generations

Rezaul Karim Chowdhury:

Coordinated initiative and civic awareness is a prerequisite for building a smart city. I think it is necessary to coordinate the work of all the organizations and institutions involved in the development work even before the city corporation assumes the responsibility of serving the people of Chittagong metropolis as the elected representative of the people in the face of financial difficulties, development work crisis and global epidemic.

Lack of coordination is a waste of people’s money and time, increasing civic misery. As a result, people have a negative attitude towards government service companies, a crisis of confidence and non-cooperation.

Everyone is aware that the second wave of corona in Chittagong, the Indian type of concern is increasing. In order to keep the public aware and safe against this wave of corona, we have set up corona prevention booths in front of railway stations, bus stations, shopping malls and ward offices in important places of 41 wards of the city. Free medical care activities are ongoing.

The government has already announced a strict lockdown across the country. Earlier, the government issued a 16-point directive. We have carried out the necessary publicity campaigns to inform the people about this directive. In the interest of protecting oneself, family rules and lockdowns must be strictly adhered to to protect family members and others. At the beginning of the second corona attack, we opened a 50-bed isolation center to ensure the treatment of the infected. The isolation center opened at the Chasik Public Library on Laldighi Par in the city is capable of providing 24-hour treatment to male and female patients in 35 beds and 15 beds.

We are thinking of opening some more isolation centers as per the need. We hope that the cooperation of all conscious people including doctors, nurses, medical technicians, health workers, rich people of the society will be with us.

As soon as I took over as mayor, I continued my routine work in the 100-day work plan and started patchwork by prioritizing some more urgent service work.

We have explored and explored the feasibility of implementing income generating projects and bringing dynamism in the service scope of Chasik including development of mosquito eradication, sanitation and waste disposal management, rehabilitation and lighting of existing roads. One hundred percent success has come in repairing the broken roads of the city through patchwork. There has been a lot of momentum in waste management and waste disposal. LED lights have been installed in 6 km section of 30 roads of the city. Illumination work is going on in many more places. In the second phase, I announced another 100 days of patch work as there are many satisfactory benefits from 100 days of patch work. As part of the ongoing work, a large area of ​​Agrabad Access Road has been illuminated by installing new lamp posts with LED lights.

Footpaths are placed on both sides of the city streets for safe walking of people. Surprisingly, some people have been occupying the sidewalks and opening up business and creating problems for the larger population. We are working with zero tolerance to evict illegal occupants from canals, drains, including sidewalks. If the occupiers do not remove the illegally set up shops and installations at their own risk, we are demolishing those establishments. In the public interest, we are not willing to give anyone a point discount.

Of these, we have noticed that in many cases we have many obstacles and limitations. Due to which the quality and speed of service work is not at the desired level. The biggest hurdle is the inadequacy of coordination between government agencies, including the development authority, WASA, the power and gas distribution department, and the widespread lack of civic awareness.
Even working with the utmost sincerity in mosquito eradication did not bring much success. Mosquito reproduction in stagnant sewage water has increased several hundred times due to dumping of garbage and construction of dams in different parts of the canal to implement mega projects to alleviate waterlogging. Moreover, the effectiveness of liquid medicine collected for mosquito eradication has not been as desired.

Waterlogging and submergence in high rainfall and tidal water is a long standing problem in Chittagong. To solve this problem, Hon’ble Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has sincerely stood by the people of Chittagong and approved mega projects. The cost of the mega project being implemented by the Chittagong Development Authority has been estimated at Tk 5,618.49 crore. The project is being implemented by the Army Engineering Brigade. The project, which started in July 2016, was supposed to be completed in June 2020, but the work was not completed and was extended by one year till 2021. The work has not been completed yet. Almost every major canal and drainage canal in the city has dams in place and construction of switch gates and water regulators at the junction of canals and rivers is incomplete.

So long before the onset of the monsoon season, I feared that in a little rain, blind water could submerge the city’s alleys, alleys and roads and enter homes, causing indescribable misery. We therefore requested the CDA to temporarily and expeditiously remove the dams at various places in the canals for the monsoon season and to further widen the temporary paths to draw water out of the mouths of the canals. The CDA could not keep or ignore my request, so most of the city was submerged in the first downpour of the season.

Development in rainwater also sand, soil, waste and sewage from construction works fall into the canal and freeze, remove it on an emergency basis within a few hours and cut some dams to make way for water flow. As a result, the level of suffering did not increase. However, due to heavy rains, water is still accumulating in different parts of the city, water is not being removed quickly. Regular cleaning operations in Chasik show that one third of the waste consists of polythene and plastic products. People are unknowingly throwing these wastes in the canals. As a result, waste of polythene and plastic products has become an obstacle in eliminating waterlogging and drainage. At such a time, these plastic products and polythene are a big obstacle in the dredging work to keep Chittagong city free from waterlogging, protect the environment and restore the flow of Karnafuli river. We want to stop the production of polythene in phases to save rivers and cities from the terrible aggression of polythene. People should be accustomed to the alternative system by avoiding the use of these polythene.

Plastic products should be stored without being scattered so that they can be collected for recycling. Chasik has to cooperate from all quarters in this regard. We have announced a budget of Tk 2,463.98 crore for the development of the city and civic services for the next financial year (2021-22). The budget has set a revenue target of Tk 752 crore from its own sources. In order to achieve this goal and restore the capacity of Chasik, we are taking necessary steps to strengthen the income generating projects and create new ones.

The city corporation carries out the work of the city service by collecting taxes from the city dwellers. It is not possible to increase the scope of service with this fixed income. So be self-reliant. Meanwhile, Agrabad Commercial Shopping Complex and Phillatli Kitchen Market at 11th South Kattli were inaugurated at Beparipara. More important raw markets of the city will be converted into multi-storey kitchen markets in phases. The multi-storey kitchen market will have allotment of commercial flats and accommodation. In other words, all these markets will meet two goals in one market marketing and housing.

In the budget session, we announced the revised budget of 1 thousand 1 crore 36 lakh 45 thousand taka for the financial year 2020-21. The proposed budget for this financial year was Tk 2,435.30 crore. The budget implementation rate was 41 percent. So this year’s budget has been increased to 26 crore 7 lakh. In the proposed budget, the total income from three types of taxes has been estimated at Tk 533.93 crore. Of this, the highest income of Tk 218.15 crore has been taken in the arrears tax and excise sector. In the current tax and excise sector, 173 crore 8 lakh taka and 132 crore 2 lakh 50 thousand taka has been taken for other taxes. 634 crore of this year’s budget will go to pay the arrears. The development sector will cost Tk 72 crore. Expenditure on salaries and allowances and management and maintenance has been estimated at Tk 640 crore. We urge homeowners to pay their taxes in a timely manner. We will introduce a system so that citizens can pay taxes at home without any hassle through automation. We want to make the city an environmentally, technologically and economically prosperous and livable city.

We have already signed an agreement with digital service provider Robi Axiata Limited. According to the regulator’s policy, it is initially planned to set up active network infrastructure at 100 lamp posts in the city under the agreement. We have plans to set up digital surveillance systems, smart street lights, noise pollution reduction, smart parking facilities, Robi shuttle service for students and digital displays in citizen safety. We would like to welcome other telecom companies in the same way.

One thing we have to keep in mind is that urban development is not possible with everything from the government. The cooperation, thinking, talent and proper advice of the city dwellers can play a big role here. Projects have been taken up to generate electricity, gas and fertilizer from the city’s waste, construction of metro rail and development of Thandachhari Park to alleviate traffic congestion, construction of Ocean Park and memorial at C site near Outer Ring Road. Contractors are directly involved in the development of the city. Development work of Chittagong City Corporation is not possible without honesty, transparency and sincerity of the contractor. Without the coordination of the organization with the contractors, quality work is not possible. Contractors must come forward with sincerity in the development of the city.

Lastly, let us all consciously cooperate to make our city safe, beautiful, clean and world class. Extend a helping hand to the work of the City Corporation. Let’s build a comfortable, stable Chittagong metropolis for all generations.
Thanks everyone.

Joy Bangla, Joy Bangabandhu, Joytu Jannetri Sheikh Hasina.

Author:
Mayor
Chittagong City Corporation
Heroic freedom fighter
Oh
Senior Joint-General Secretary
Chittagong Metropolitan Awami League.