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Change Your Life! |
Dhaka City Corporation budget announced |
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News |
June 30, 2000
Dhaka
(UNB) – Dhaka City Corporation yesterday announced a Tk 546.82 crore
budget for fiscal 2000-2001 with an allocation of Tk 395.38 crore for
development activities. City
Mayor Mohammad Hanif announced the budget at a function at Jatiya
Natyamancha. He also presented a Tk 447.09 crore revised budget for fiscal
1999-2000 which was Tk 521.27 crore originally. “I’m
delighted to announce that like previous years no proposal has been made
to increase holding tax, which was one of my election pledges,” the
Mayor said presenting his seventh consecutive budget for the city. Asked
whether he can continue his office as he was elected for a five-year term
in 1994, Hanif said as per rule he is supposed to hand over the charge to
a new elected mayor. “However,
if the government and the Election Commission ask me to leave the office,
I’m ready to go right now,” he said adding that the election to DCC
has deferred for some legal procedures. He
told the commissioners and a select group of citizens present at the
function that the budget gave highest priority to road development,
expansion of streetlights, mosquito control and clean-up drives. In
2000-2001, the allocation for mosquito control in the city corporation
areas is Tk 13 crore. The allocation in previous fiscal was also the same,
but the revised budget showed it at Tk 10.5 crore. “It’s
not possible to make the city completely mosquito-free. We are doing our
best to do every possible thing to control mosquito,” the Mayor said
turning to the common complaint of the city dwellers. Describing
special features of the new budget, the Mayor said a total of Tk one crore
has been earmarked for micro credit programme for the employment of slum
dwellers and it will come from the corporation’s own fund. “Another
significance of the budget is allocation of Tk eight crore for developing
a graveyard and dumping depots and constructing and developing roads by
acquiring lands,” Hanif said. The
budget shows that Tk 190.82 crore will come as revenue income, including
Tk 110 crore as rates and taxes, Tk 65 crore as government’s lump
allocation and Tk 280 crore government/foreign project allocations. “We
have allocated Tk 395.38 crore for various development programmes and
it’s more than 72 percent of the total budget,” the Mayor announced
amidst claps from the audience. Besides,
he informed that a Tk 200 crore project has been taken up for the
development of 30 important road crossings, buildings, three underpasses
and signal system. “At
the same time, modernisation of three bus terminals costing Tk 77 crore is
under process. Under the project, two fly-overs will be built in city’s
Jatrabari and Mohakhali areas,” Hanif said. City
commissioners, including Haji Mohammad Selim MP, and senior officials of
the corporation were present when the Mayor presented the new budget for
2000-2001 and the revised budget for 1999-2000. The
Mayor renewed his idea of metropolitan government for smooth development
of the city. On terrorism, he said apart from cooperation from police, he
needs more power to fight against it. About
terrorist acts over submission of tenders in the City Corporation
building, the Mayor said the DCC is not the place for terrorists. “We
have blacklisted those who tried to unleash terrorism.” Brushing
aside the allegations that he politicised the city corporation, Hanif
said, “All the officials who had worked during my predecessor Mirza
Abbas are still working. I changed only one official -– personal
secretary -- and the change took place six months after my election.” Asked whether he is successful, the Mayor said, “It depends, someone may say I’m successful and someone may not. But it’s the election that will be the barometre to measure my successes and failures.” |