Plagued by perennial problems, Dhaka and Chittagong -- our two major cities -- go to polls on April 28. What will a mayoral hopeful do to solve those problems if elected? How all the modern amenities will be ensured? What is his vision for the future of the city? 
Looking for the answers, The Daily Star has talked to a mayoral candidate. 

With the promise of keeping "the wave of development" on, M Manjur Alam Manju eyes a second consecutive term as mayor of Chittagong City Corporation (CCC).

"I have decided to contest the polls again in order to continue the development work and the improvement in services that started during my tenure," said Manjur, who took the CCC mayor office in 2010 defeating three-time mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury.

"If re-elected, my prime objective will be to make Chittagong a world-class city with all modern amenities," said the businessman-turned-politician in an exclusive interview with The Daily Star on Wednesday.

Manjur started as a ward councillor in 1994 and survived three consecutive elections. He also earned trust of the then mayor Mohiuddin Chowdhury to the extent that Mohiuddin made Manjur acting mayor nine times in his absence.

After Mohiuddin's arrest during the army-backed caretaker government in 2007, Manjur ran the city corporation as acting mayor for two years.

However, the relation soured in 2010 when Manjur, who was known as an Awami League supporter, wanted to contest the mayor polls against Mohiuddin.

With the BNP's support, he clinched a surprise victory against AL-heavyweight Mohiuddin in the election. He also became an adviser to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia later.

So, how would he assess his tenure as the CCC mayor?

"I made 56 promises in my [2010] election manifesto. It's true that I haven't achieved cent percent success in fulfilling the pledges," Manjur told The Daily Star at his Kattali residence in the port city.

"But most of my short-term development projects have been completed and I have been successful to a great extent in executing my mid-term plans and proceeded remarkably to implement the long-term projects."

A total of Tk 900 crore was spent in development work during his tenure. The amount is more than one-third of the total development expenditure the city had made in the last 25 years, he claimed.

He cited the construction of the 1.3km Marine Drive Road from the Third Karnaphuli Bridge to Firingibazar and getting a Tk 293 crore project for digging a new 3km long canal approved as examples of the development work carried out during his tenure.

Addressing waterlogging that plagues the city too often was one of his top pledges. And though Manjur claimed to have been successful in "significantly mitigating" the problem, many city-dwellers think otherwise.

"We have a master plan for a permanent solution to waterlogging and around Tk 3,000 crore is required to implement it. You cannot expect me to solve such a large problem overnight," Manjur said in defence.

"It is a tough job to fulfil all the pledges in a single tenure," he said, appealing to the city people to vote for him once more so that he could complete the incomplete.

He has also been criticised for the city's poor waste management efforts.

And Manjur unhesitantly blamed it on shortage of manpower and other resources.

"Now one Sebak [cleaner] works for around 3,000 people. This is inadequate for a city of 60 lakh people," he claimed.

According to him, the CCC had 3,100 staff when he took office and in the last five years, he has taken the number to 7,500.

Stressing the need for further increasing the CCC manpower, he said specific promises would be in his election manifesto, to be made public in a day or two.

He was an opposition-backed mayor. Did this cause any obstruction to discharging his duties?

"No, actually. I never faced any noncooperation from the government," Manjur said, holding this as one of his major successes.

Manjur, who bears a relatively clean and neutral image, has frequently drawn flak from BNP leaders and activists of Chittagong for not staying beside them when the party needed it.

"I cannot say that everything I promised has been done. But I feel good when I see that I have been able to bring transparency and accountability in the CCC and keep it from politicisation and nepotism," Manjur said with a proud smile on his face.

He believes not only new promises, but also his past accomplishments will help him win the April 28 election.