Planned Chattogram not possible without city govt: Mayor

It is not possible to develop a planned Chattogram without a city government, Chattogram City Corporation (CCC) Mayor Shahadat Hossain said today (15 February).

He said, "For planned development, it is crucial to coordinate all government service-providing organisations. As there is no city government, it becomes very difficult to coordinate all the organisations."

"For instance, CCC repairs a road, and a few days later, WASA starts digging it up to implement their project. This happens due to a lack of coordination. On the other hand, the Chattogram Development Authority implements its projects without consulting CCC. As a result, development plans cannot be implemented properly," the mayor said.

He made these remarks while addressing a roundtable meeting titled 'Dream of Developed Chattogram: Planning and Implementation' at a local restaurant in the port city this afternoon as the chief guest.

The event was jointly organised by working TV journalists in Chattogram and the international money-sending app Taptap Send.

The roundtable was chaired by senior journalist Shamsul Hoque Haidary and moderated by Alamgir Sabuj, Chattogram bureau chief of Independent Television. Other speakers included Kamal Pervez, regional head of Channel 24, Mohsin Chowdhury, bureau chief of Boishakhi Television, Saiful Islam Shilpi, bureau chief of Ekattor TV, and Mahmudul Hasan Moni, ambassador and media coordinator of Taptap Send Bangladesh, among others.

Shahadat said, "In the last 100 days since assuming the office of CCC mayor, I have tried my best to reshape the city. I am working on developing one playground for each of the 41 wards in the city. We have already started the development work of seven playgrounds. I am also working closely to solve the city's main problem—waterlogging—by cleaning all the canals and drains. Hopefully, in the upcoming rainy season, waterlogging will be reduced by 50%."

Providing insight into his 100-day journey, CCC Mayor Shahadat said, "We are working to develop a greener city and have invited applications for proposals. Instead of beautifying only roads, we are emphasising planting trees across all 41 wards to make Chattogram a green city. We have also initiated a project to revive all the water bodies in the city by recovering them from the clutches of illegal encroachers."

"We have also taken the initiative to renovate the healthcare facilities provided by CCC. Leading steel manufacturer BSRM has shown interest in taking responsibility for turning Memon Hospital in the Sadarghat area into a fully free hospital. We will soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding with BSRM to proceed with the project," he added.

Shahadat further said, "I have also been working to secure CCC's due share of revenue from Chattogram Port. The port authority has already given a positive response, and if everything goes well, we will soon receive a handsome amount from the port as holding tax. If we get just 1% of the port's revenue, CCC will become a self-sufficient organisation."

Mahmudul Hasan Moni said that Chattogram is not only the highest revenue-earning city in the country but also the highest remittance-earning city.

"Millions of people from Chattogram live in the Middle East, Europe, and America. Every month, they send a huge amount of remittance, enriching the country's foreign currency reserves. If all remittances were sent through legal banking channels, the country would benefit even more," he added.

"Taptap Send has been playing a vital role in helping expatriates send their hard-earned money home through a hassle-free, legal channel," he said, urging people from Chattogram living abroad to use the Taptap Send app to send money to Bangladesh and contribute to the country's economy.