Ctg Wasa MD wants basic salary increased to Tk4.5 lakh

The managing director of Chattogram Water Supply and Sewerage Authority, AKM Fazlullah, has applied to increase his basic salary by 2.5 times – from TK1.8 lakh to Tk4.5 lakh.

An application for the increment was raised in the agenda of the 65th board meeting of Chattogram Wasa held on Monday (24 January).

The board, instead of taking any decision on the appeal, formed a four-member committee to look into the matter and report back, confirmed Wasa Chattogram Board Chairman Jahangir Alam. Additional Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government Muhammad Ibrahim will head the committee.

Earlier, the proposition was presented at the 61st board meeting of the organisation held on 4 May last year citing that managing directors of Dhaka and Khulna Wasa are getting a basic salary worth double the amount he is being given.

Reportedly, the salary of Dhaka Wasa Managing Director TaksimA Khan was increased by an additional Tk2 lakh to Tk6.25 lakh last year, in the middle of the pandemic.

After retiring as an executive engineer in 1998, AKM Fazlullah joined ChattogramWasa as the chairman on 8 July 2009. Later in 2011, he was made the managing director of the organisation after the post was created following the model of Dhaka Wasa. His tenure was then extended for another three years in October 2020.

According to ChattogramWasa, the managing director at present gets a total of Tk3.17 lakh per month - including house rent, medical expenses, hospitality and special allowances – and his basic salary has been Tk1.8 lakh since 2016.

Meanwhile, Fazlullah's application for the pay raise during the ongoing pandemic has drawn large-scale criticism. He could not be reached when The Business Standard tried to contact him regarding the matter.