Divided DCC excels in \\\'malpractice\\\'

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Accounts expressed concern last week over gross irregularities in the bifurcated Dhaka City Corporation (DCC). In a meeting held on August 27 last with Dr. Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir in the chair, the parliamentary watchdog found non-transparency in the overall performance of both the Dhaka South and Dhaka North City Corporations (DSCC and DNCC).
Talking to journalists after the meeting, Dr. Rustom Ali Farazi, a member of the committee, said the parliamentary body has warned the dishonest officials and employees of the DSCC and DNCC. The unscrupulous members of the staff will face consequences for their misdeeds, Dr. Farazi cautioned and asked the officials to desist from such activities.
Dr. Farazi also informed journalists that staff members of DSCC and DNCC seldom follow any law or rule while performing their official jobs. He stated, as appeared in the press, they enjoy liberty in imposing and exempting municipal taxes as per their will. He made another startling disclosure that the revenue of the corporations earned through leasing cattle markets and realizing rents from billboards are not properly deposited.
More alarming is the fact, as stated by Dr. Farazi, they deposit less amounts of money than the actual earnings. He told journalists that the officials of both the city corporations have been asked to submit reports on irregularities within two months.
The day-to-day experience of citizens with the services provided by split DCC, is simply frustrating. As both the corporations are run by unelected administrators, the city dwellers do not know precisely to whom they could tell about their problems.
The administrators are appointed after every six months to lead the corporations. About three years ago the DCC was bifurcated into DCC (North) and DCC (South) for providing, as per government announcement, improved civic amenities to nearly fifteen million townspeople. The decision to divide the DCC was taken at a cabinet meeting in October, 2011 with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair through an amendment to the Local Government (City Corporation) Act, 2009.
In fact, with the steady influx of people from far-flung areas of the country, the metropolis has now turned into one of the most densely populated cities in the world. At present the city population is spread over an area of 360 sq km within DCC limits.
With regard to bifurcation of the DCC, the government felt that one city corporation is hard put to provide civic amenities to the large population and that is why it is necessary to divide the corporation into two. Out of the total 92 wards, the DCC (North) consists of 36 wards and the DCC (South) has the rest 56 wards. Tejgaon and Mohammadpur police stations serve as the border line between DCC (North) and DCC (South).
At the time of splitting DCC the government vowed to hold the election to the corporations within 90 days. Administrators were appointed to run the DCC (North) and DCC (South). During this long period since bifurcation the polls were not held for many complications including absence of updated voter list.
 It is still uncertain when the elections to two city corporations would take place. The result is more sufferings for the city dwellers because of unelected people running this vital civic bodies.
The activities of DCC are mainly confined to four major areas - garbage disposal, maintenance of roads and surface drains, street lighting and mosquito control. The services being rendered by the corporations now are far from satisfactory.
However, the DCC is not alone responsible for its unsatisfactory performance. Lack of coordination among the agencies providing utility services is largely blamed for the prevailing situation. Despite efforts taken by the successive governments to establish some sort of close working relationship among utility service providers like WASA, Titas Gas, telephone department, RAJUK and electricity supply, the result is not at all encouraging. As regards conservancy service, the DCC is yet to make any headway in waste disposal. This is one of the major tasks of DCC.
Many conscious citizens have now come to realize that the bifurcation of DCC has served no purpose in respect of providing improved civic amenities. Instead, the quality of service to the taxpayers has worsened and no elected authority is there to redress public grievances.
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