Outgoing CCC mayor announces Tk2,430cr budget

Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin announced Tk2,430 crore budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year on Tuesday – just a day before his stint expires.

The outgoing mayor at Chattogram Club Auditorium also declared the revised budget for the 2019-20 fiscal year. The CCC budget for the previous fiscal year was Tk2,485.91 crore, and it was trimmed to Tk1,447 crore in the revised budget.

As usual, the new budget has the highest, Tk290.40 crore allocation for salaries and wages. In the previous fiscal year, the allocation in this sector was Tk234 crore.

In the new budget, Tk1.75 crore has been allocated for tours and travel whileTk6.05 crore has been allocated for hospitality and festivals.

The budget for the 2020-21 fiscal year said the city corporation's dues to different entities and contractors amount to Tk790 crore.

After assuming office, AJM Nasir rolled out Tk1632 crore budget for the 2015-16 fiscal year. After five years, he declared the latest one on Tuesday which was 33 percent larger than the first budget.

After placing the budget, the mayor said he announced five budgets and could implement four of them. 

"I am not claiming to be a successful mayor. The city residents will determine whether I am successful or not. But I would request the people to compare the current Chattogram with what it was five years ago," he added.

CCC Chief Executive Officer Md Shamsuddoha moderated the budget announcement programme. Panel mayor, councillors, CCC high-officials and other government officials were present at the event.

AJM Nasir will complete his five-year tenure on August 5. The government appointed Khorshed Alam Sujon as the administrator to the city corporation on Tuesday as it could not hold the election on time due to the coronavirus pandemic.