Ramgarh (Khagrachhari) :
The newly elected mayor Md Rafiqul Alam Kamal will be sworn in today (Wednesday) with the burden of salary and allowance of Tk 2.5 cr and electricity bill of Tk 50 lakh for the officers and employees of Ramgarh Municipality in Khagrachhari. The swearing in of the newly elected mayors and councilors will be held on Wednesday at the Chittagong Divisional Commissioner’s Office Conference Room. Divisional Commissioner Md Kamrul Hasan NDC will read out their affidavit, sources said. The election of Ramgarh municipality was held on November 2. Awami League party candidate and Municipal Awami League president Md. Rafiqul Alam Kamal was elected mayor without contest. On the other hand, Mayor Mohammad Shah Jahan Kazi Ripon, who was elected as a rebel candidate in 2016, did not participate in the election this time as he did not get party nomination.
According to the relevant sources, the officers and employees of Ramgarh Municipality have not been receiving their salaries and allowances for a long period of 37 months. There are 17 regular and 8 master roll employees. In 37 months, the salaries and allowances of the officers and employees are in arrears of around Tk 2.5 crore. Md. Shah Alam, general secretary of Ramgarh municipality unit of Bangladesh Municipal Service Association, said that they have to live in unspeakable misery due to long 37 months salary and allowance arrears. He made a humanitarian appeal to the newly elected mayor to pay the arrears of salaries and allowances of these dependent employees on priority basis. An employee, who did not want to be named, said that although the municipality earned about Tk 40 lakh in the lease sector last June, the mayors and councilors shared their honorarium without paying the arrears of staff. However, according to the government rules, the honorarium of the mayors and councilors should be paid from the surplus money after paying the necessary expenses including the salaries and allowances of the staff in the revenue income. On the other hand, according to the Ramgarh Power Development Board, Ramgarh Municipality has about Tk 50 lakh in electricity bill arrears. The residential engineer of Ramgarh sub-station said that the power supply was cut off a few months ago due to non-payment of arrears despite repeated notices for payment of arrears. He was later reconnected after paying Tk 5 lakh and promising to pay the remaining arrears expeditiously. But later they did not keep that promise.
Meanwhile, the newly elected mayor Md Rafiqul Alam Kamal said about the arrears of salaries and allowances of Tk 2.5 crore and the arrears of electricity bills of half a crore, these huge arrears is a big burden for us. It is a great shame and sadness for this municipality to have arrears of salaries and allowances of its staff for 37 months, ” he added .
