City corporations must be independent for effectiveness

Future mayors of Dhaka city will be able to serve residents better if the city corporations as local government work independently, separate from the central bureaucracy, said urbanisation experts at a seminar yesterday.

A planned city with all basic civic services is not possible irrespective of who is elected as mayor until uncoordinated intervention by various agencies is brought to an end under a single authority, they said.    

There are 56 government departments that take on development works for Dhaka city without any sort of coordination among each other, said Mubasshra Hussain, former president of the Institute of Architects. 

"Moreover, about a dozen members of parliament are elected from Dhaka city each of whom behaves like a mayor of their respective constituency,” he added.

Anisul Huq, former president of Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, an aspiring mayoral candidate of Dhaka North City Corporation, organised the seminar "Dhaka Today and Tomorrow" under the banner of his election campaign "Amra Dhaka" at Bangladesh Institute of Planners in the capital.     

The speakers said the primary goals of a mayor of Dhaka city should be to recover footpaths, parks, playgrounds and open spaces from illegal occupation to make a breakthrough in city management. 

“Make the sidewalks safe for women, the elderly and children,” said Prof Nazrul Islam, honorary chairman of Centre for Urban Studies.

“Dhaka city is sharply divided into the rich and the poor,” said Sarwar Jahan, a professor of urban planning at Buet.

He also added that future mayors should address the housing problem of slum dwellers.

Earlier, the prime minister endorsed that her party the ruling-Awami League will back Anisul Huq as the mayoral candidate for the north city corporation and Sayeed Khokan as the candidate for the south.   

Anisul Huq said he has taken the candidacy as a challenge.