Khoka for special cops to fight encroachers

Illegal billboards to go by June

Staff Correspondent
06 June, 2003

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Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka yesterday demanded a special police force under the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) to fight encroachment on open spaces and illegal occupation of sidewalks.

"The police (DMP) are not enough to protect open spaces and free footpaths and city streets of hawkers, as they are not available all the time," the mayor said in his address as chief guest to a session on City Governance of the National Policy Review Forum 2003 at CIRDAP.

Khoka also reiterated his demand for bringing the DCC under the Prime Minister's Office for quick execution of decisions and implementation of development plans. He underscored upgrading of the DCC to strengthen its executive power.

A 4.5-kilometre flyover from Shanir Akhra to Gulistan will be built soon, the Dhaka mayor promised in his presentation of DCC plans.

Private management in 10 DCC wards took charge of garbage collection, and four additional dumps will be selected to roll back waste problems, said the mayor.

Khoka also declared that all illegal billboards and neon signs would be removed from crossings by June-end. The DCC has scaled up the charge of outdoor advertisement to discourage people from erecting billboards, he said.

Chittagong Mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, who spoke as special guest at the dialogue co-organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue, The Daily Star and the Prothom Alo, accused the government of non-cooperation that led to failure of many projects he took up.

The government curtailed the mayoral power by adding a post of chief executive officer to every city corporation, who often tries to create bureaucratic tangles in implementation of decisions, said Mohiuddin.

Mohiuddin blamed all governments for taking a negative attitude toward Chittagong. "But if Chittagong, dubbed the commercial capital, prospers economically, the nation will benefit from it," he said.

The Chittagong mayor, to back up his claim, said a satellite town for 3,000 families was abandoned only because the government did not approve.

Leading town planners and urban development and transport experts who attended the session fear if development work is not carried out in a holistic way, Dhaka and Chittagong would turn into sprawling slums.

They also suggested decentralisation of utility services, especially garbage cleaning, and said the city corporations and municipalities lack transparency and accountability.

Three major recommendations were put forward in the taskforce report on City Governance: formation of a municipal commission on policy guidance of urbanisation, an independent association of all municipalities, and enough training and monitoring system for urban planning and city management. The taskforce report was prepared by a group of urban development experts, headed by Professor Nazrul Islam.

Dr Nurul Islam Nazem, Tanvir Newaz, Rosy Ahsan, Abdul Motlub Ahmed, SM Shah Alam, Rita Afsar, Dr Shahnaj Hossain, Gul Afsan, Abdul Haque, Dr Sarwar Jahan, Tanvir Newaz, Deen Mohammad Khan, Dr Rahmatullah, Arshad Ali and Mahmudunnabi, among others, took part in the dialogue.