CCC failing to provide what citizens deserve
Tuesday, 14 December 2010
"Whatever be the course that history takes, it is my sincere wish, as it is also my belief that a greater position and prosperity may lie before this place into future that it has ever hitherto enjoyed."
It was the concluding remarks of His Excellency Lord Curzon, the then viceroy of India, in reply to addresses by the dignitaries who accorded him a warm reception on arrival in Chittagong on 15 February 1904 at Shudder Ghat Jetty (the old port of Sadarghat) attended by then Chittagong Commissioner Green Shields and other local officials in the presence of a considerable assembly of Europeans and Natives.
106 years have passed since then. Chittagong has developed a lot. They call it gateway to the east, commercial capital of an independent country named Bangladesh. But the belief of His Excellency is yet to turn into reality.
Problems that bedevil this gateway are manifold and multidimensional. The major problem is that it is destined to provide all facilities and services the citizens under the local government body deserve from it.
But the Chittagong City Corporation cannot provide even half of the services its citizens deserve because it is running in financial constrains. Its income is very limited but the responsibility to provide services to its people is much greater.
The CCC looks forward to the government not only for the money it needs to implement its projects but also for getting the project approved by the government, be it funded by the government or by the CCC itself.
Last month the LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam attended a function at the CCC as chief guest. He advised the CCC to stand on its feet by initiating income generating schemes so that the local government institution needs not to look up to others for financial assistance. He cited instances of running the city corporations by their own fund in the developed world.
The city of four million people is administered by a body of 55 directly elected ward councilors - women and men - and an elected mayor to steer the whole gamut of things.
The city corporation mayor has a vision to take the services and civic amenities to the doorstep of the citizens, as of today he has exhibited utmost sincerity towards attaining his goal through definitive action-plan in six months.
Mayor Manjur Alam has undertaken schemes on short, medium and long term plans for addressing water logging, traffic congestion, power generation, coal-based power generation, construction and repair of roads and drains, bypass road and footpath construction, education and health.
A good number of these projects were however taken during the tenure of former mayor of the city corporation ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury who ran the administration for a prolonged period of 17 years.
With the wholehearted administrative and financial support from the government in power, especially the local government ministry, which is the guardian of all the local government bodies including the city corporations, the CCC has started implementing some projects to partially relieve the people from the city's gravest problem of water logging ahead of the rainy season.
The CCC is undertaking implementation of the Mariners' Bypass with acquisition of land for the project to start next month at the cost of Tk 570 million. The project is scheduled to be completed by the year 2012.
This multipurpose project will also address the city's water logging problem as the bypass will be constructed along the Chaktai Canal from Bahaddarhat to Karnafuli River with the sand available from dredging the canal.
One of the giant projects the CCC has undertaken is widening of the Bahaddarhat-Airport Road into eight lanes highway from the existing two-way one. The project seems to replace the highly ambitious fly over construction from Bahaddarhat to Patenga Bay Resort taken by former city mayor Mohiuddin Chowdhury.
The decision for widening of the city's only highway of 19 kilometer in length came from a meeting of the CCC to find out ways to reduce traffic jam in the road. The road leads up to the airport via the seaport and the export processing zone. 75 percent of the city's vehicles ply on this road leading to severe traffic congestion at eight to 10 points. This congestion creates untold suffering to the cargo movement to and from the port.
Chittagong is getting congested with ever increasing population and traffic. Port traffic cannot move easily due to high congestion which obstructs port activities that contribute immensely to the national economy. Removal of traffic congestion from Dewanhat to Patenga will improve port functioning. So widening of the road has no alternative, the mayor said in the decision making meeting of councilors on November 26 last.
The fly over project was estimated at Tk 15,000 million on the BOT (build, operate and transfer) basis under the public private partnership.
However, widening of the road up to 120 feet with two lanes for smaller and two lanes for bigger and heavy duty vehicles on each side will reduce the cost, sources said.
The advantages after implementation of widening of the city's major thoroughfare will be a) improvement of overall transportation system of the city, b) minimization of traffic congestion, c) improvement of port facilities and d) enhancement of national income from the port through smooth port functioning.
Chittagong City Corporation has been running a number of income generating projects including operating a CNG - filling station, secondary schools, colleges, madrashas, hospitals, laptop computer manufacture and many others apart from realising holding tax from buildings, and not from tin-shed or thatched houses.
It also earns a good amount of revenue from Chittagong Port, Chittagong Development Authority, Bangladesh Railway and mills and factories as holding tax. But the CCC officials said huge amount of the tax is left outstanding every year for which the urgent projects cannot be implemented in time.
"As much as Tk 3760 million in holding tax remains outstanding with four government establishments such as Chittagong Port, Railway, CDA and the Chittagong Steel Mills," said an official.
As for utility services rendered by the CCC it is unfortunate that the citizens have been suffering from acute shortage of electricity, gas and water for decades. But the CCC, the utility service provider to the city dwellers is totally helpless in this regard. They don't have major projects for supply of water, power and gas and as such they cannot do anything here or elsewhere in the country.
Furthermore, the city people are unlikely to escape from the dangerous effects of solid waste disposal which is posing severe threat to them. The CCC has currently no major scheme in this regard.
Chittagong produces over 900 MT of garbage a day but the CCC has no safe method for disposal of the same. Even scavengers and their vehicles are not equipped to do the job the tax payers pay the money for.
Open trucks are used to carry the solid waste causing pollution to the air and scavengers are exposed to all kinds of diseases as they have no gloves, no shoes and no safe basket.
The CCC has taken a small project for garbage collection from the city, disposal and treatment plant at an estimated cost of Tk 95 million under the current fiscal year but the major problem is lack of waste recycling plant as these wastes are non-biodegradable and hazardous to the environment.
Another major problem is: Hundreds of people from the have-not group are living in a dangerously located slum clusters and hill pockets at Motijharna and Batali Hills in the city's Lalkhan Bazar area.
Landslides are regular phenomena in this hilly area apart from a huge expanse of hillocks in other parts of the city. At least 128 people died and many others became physically tormented in the tragic deaths from landslide hazards in the city on 11 June of 2007.
Evidences show that human induced hill cutting has exacerbated landslide to a high magnitude. Due to imprudent cutting of hills slopes become steeper eventually leading to further slide of the slopes in rainfall.
Chittagong City Corporation has taken several attempts to evict people from the hill-pockets and rehabilitate them elsewhere in safer areas but the drives ended in the middle due to interception by influential people who maintain livelihood of these people to protect their heinous work of hill cutting.
The CCC has apparently taken no scheme to remove the slum dwellers living in the risky hill pockets at Batali Hills, Motijharna Hills and Nasirabad Hills.
It was the concluding remarks of His Excellency Lord Curzon, the then viceroy of India, in reply to addresses by the dignitaries who accorded him a warm reception on arrival in Chittagong on 15 February 1904 at Shudder Ghat Jetty (the old port of Sadarghat) attended by then Chittagong Commissioner Green Shields and other local officials in the presence of a considerable assembly of Europeans and Natives.
106 years have passed since then. Chittagong has developed a lot. They call it gateway to the east, commercial capital of an independent country named Bangladesh. But the belief of His Excellency is yet to turn into reality.
Problems that bedevil this gateway are manifold and multidimensional. The major problem is that it is destined to provide all facilities and services the citizens under the local government body deserve from it.
But the Chittagong City Corporation cannot provide even half of the services its citizens deserve because it is running in financial constrains. Its income is very limited but the responsibility to provide services to its people is much greater.
The CCC looks forward to the government not only for the money it needs to implement its projects but also for getting the project approved by the government, be it funded by the government or by the CCC itself.
Last month the LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam attended a function at the CCC as chief guest. He advised the CCC to stand on its feet by initiating income generating schemes so that the local government institution needs not to look up to others for financial assistance. He cited instances of running the city corporations by their own fund in the developed world.
The city of four million people is administered by a body of 55 directly elected ward councilors - women and men - and an elected mayor to steer the whole gamut of things.
The city corporation mayor has a vision to take the services and civic amenities to the doorstep of the citizens, as of today he has exhibited utmost sincerity towards attaining his goal through definitive action-plan in six months.
Mayor Manjur Alam has undertaken schemes on short, medium and long term plans for addressing water logging, traffic congestion, power generation, coal-based power generation, construction and repair of roads and drains, bypass road and footpath construction, education and health.
A good number of these projects were however taken during the tenure of former mayor of the city corporation ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury who ran the administration for a prolonged period of 17 years.
With the wholehearted administrative and financial support from the government in power, especially the local government ministry, which is the guardian of all the local government bodies including the city corporations, the CCC has started implementing some projects to partially relieve the people from the city's gravest problem of water logging ahead of the rainy season.
The CCC is undertaking implementation of the Mariners' Bypass with acquisition of land for the project to start next month at the cost of Tk 570 million. The project is scheduled to be completed by the year 2012.
This multipurpose project will also address the city's water logging problem as the bypass will be constructed along the Chaktai Canal from Bahaddarhat to Karnafuli River with the sand available from dredging the canal.
One of the giant projects the CCC has undertaken is widening of the Bahaddarhat-Airport Road into eight lanes highway from the existing two-way one. The project seems to replace the highly ambitious fly over construction from Bahaddarhat to Patenga Bay Resort taken by former city mayor Mohiuddin Chowdhury.
The decision for widening of the city's only highway of 19 kilometer in length came from a meeting of the CCC to find out ways to reduce traffic jam in the road. The road leads up to the airport via the seaport and the export processing zone. 75 percent of the city's vehicles ply on this road leading to severe traffic congestion at eight to 10 points. This congestion creates untold suffering to the cargo movement to and from the port.
Chittagong is getting congested with ever increasing population and traffic. Port traffic cannot move easily due to high congestion which obstructs port activities that contribute immensely to the national economy. Removal of traffic congestion from Dewanhat to Patenga will improve port functioning. So widening of the road has no alternative, the mayor said in the decision making meeting of councilors on November 26 last.
The fly over project was estimated at Tk 15,000 million on the BOT (build, operate and transfer) basis under the public private partnership.
However, widening of the road up to 120 feet with two lanes for smaller and two lanes for bigger and heavy duty vehicles on each side will reduce the cost, sources said.
The advantages after implementation of widening of the city's major thoroughfare will be a) improvement of overall transportation system of the city, b) minimization of traffic congestion, c) improvement of port facilities and d) enhancement of national income from the port through smooth port functioning.
Chittagong City Corporation has been running a number of income generating projects including operating a CNG - filling station, secondary schools, colleges, madrashas, hospitals, laptop computer manufacture and many others apart from realising holding tax from buildings, and not from tin-shed or thatched houses.
It also earns a good amount of revenue from Chittagong Port, Chittagong Development Authority, Bangladesh Railway and mills and factories as holding tax. But the CCC officials said huge amount of the tax is left outstanding every year for which the urgent projects cannot be implemented in time.
"As much as Tk 3760 million in holding tax remains outstanding with four government establishments such as Chittagong Port, Railway, CDA and the Chittagong Steel Mills," said an official.
As for utility services rendered by the CCC it is unfortunate that the citizens have been suffering from acute shortage of electricity, gas and water for decades. But the CCC, the utility service provider to the city dwellers is totally helpless in this regard. They don't have major projects for supply of water, power and gas and as such they cannot do anything here or elsewhere in the country.
Furthermore, the city people are unlikely to escape from the dangerous effects of solid waste disposal which is posing severe threat to them. The CCC has currently no major scheme in this regard.
Chittagong produces over 900 MT of garbage a day but the CCC has no safe method for disposal of the same. Even scavengers and their vehicles are not equipped to do the job the tax payers pay the money for.
Open trucks are used to carry the solid waste causing pollution to the air and scavengers are exposed to all kinds of diseases as they have no gloves, no shoes and no safe basket.
The CCC has taken a small project for garbage collection from the city, disposal and treatment plant at an estimated cost of Tk 95 million under the current fiscal year but the major problem is lack of waste recycling plant as these wastes are non-biodegradable and hazardous to the environment.
Another major problem is: Hundreds of people from the have-not group are living in a dangerously located slum clusters and hill pockets at Motijharna and Batali Hills in the city's Lalkhan Bazar area.
Landslides are regular phenomena in this hilly area apart from a huge expanse of hillocks in other parts of the city. At least 128 people died and many others became physically tormented in the tragic deaths from landslide hazards in the city on 11 June of 2007.
Evidences show that human induced hill cutting has exacerbated landslide to a high magnitude. Due to imprudent cutting of hills slopes become steeper eventually leading to further slide of the slopes in rainfall.
Chittagong City Corporation has taken several attempts to evict people from the hill-pockets and rehabilitate them elsewhere in safer areas but the drives ended in the middle due to interception by influential people who maintain livelihood of these people to protect their heinous work of hill cutting.
The CCC has apparently taken no scheme to remove the slum dwellers living in the risky hill pockets at Batali Hills, Motijharna Hills and Nasirabad Hills.