Gulam Rabbani :
A powerful syndicate has been formed in the capital city for making money in the name of collecting of household and restaurant wastes. Leaders and activists of the ruling party and local councilors are trading hundreds of crores taka a year by taking the people of the capital city hostage. The authorities of the two city corporations have no control over them.
But the authorities of the Chattogram and the Rajshahi City Corporations collect waste directly from homes under their own management. For this the city dwellers do not have to pay any extra money.
But in Dhaka, the leaders and activists of the ruling party are collecting many from the city dwellers as there is no specific fee for collecting it from home or flat in the two city corporations. In some areas the fee is Tk 100-200 and in some areas it is Tk 300-400.
Even the waste collectors do not give any kind of receipt memo
for the collected fee in most cases. The city corporations don’t get any part of the collected money. As it is a lucrative business, the syndicate is working on waste collection in the city forcibly.
There are 129 Wards in the two city corporations of the capital city. Of these, 93 wards were earlier, 36 wards have already been added later. The situation is almost the same in all the wards, sources said.
But the city dwellers and the urban planners think that the authorities of the two city corporations of Dhaka could have stopped such trade of waste collection in the capital if they wanted.
Chattogram and Rajshahi cities have brought discipline in waste collection. The authorities of these two city corporations collect waste directly from the homes by their own staff. The city corporations pay the waste collectors.
The house tax levied by the city corporation includes the cleaning tax in those cities. With this tax money, Chattogram and Rajshahi City Corporations are directly collecting waste from the homes.
On the other hand, the two city corporations of Dhaka also take 2 percent of the house tax every year for cleaning. In the last financial years, the two city corporations of Dhaka have collected average more than Tk 150 crore in cleaning tax from the residents, sources said.
However, instead of collecting waste directly from homes of the residents, they are giving the opportunity to the leaders and activists of the ruling party for looting money.
City Corporation officials say that according to the law, the city corporation has the opportunity to collect waste directly from the houses.
Md Abu Naser, Public Relations Officer of the DSCC, said that the DSCC are taking 2 percent of the house tax every year for cleanliness. But it is collected to bear the waste from secondary transfer station (STS) to landfill and the city corporation is not bound to collect the waste from the homes directly, added the official.
He also said that there was no fixed fee for all the organizations that used to collect waste from the houses in the past years but in August this year the DSCC has decided to fix the fee worth Tk 100 for every house.
Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC)’s Public Relation Officer ASM Mamun also echoed the DSCC’s official that DNCC takes fee for cleanliness with the house tax every year but that is only for bearing the waste from secondary transfer station to landfill not for collecting the waste from the homes directly.
About 5000 tons of waste generates every day in Dhaka. Private waste collection organizations are required to register with the city corporations as waste management associations. Now more than 300 organizations are working for this purpose in Dhaka. However, the city corporations don’t have any policy regarding these organizations.
A powerful syndicate has been formed in the capital city for making money in the name of collecting of household and restaurant wastes. Leaders and activists of the ruling party and local councilors are trading hundreds of crores taka a year by taking the people of the capital city hostage. The authorities of the two city corporations have no control over them.
But the authorities of the Chattogram and the Rajshahi City Corporations collect waste directly from homes under their own management. For this the city dwellers do not have to pay any extra money.
But in Dhaka, the leaders and activists of the ruling party are collecting many from the city dwellers as there is no specific fee for collecting it from home or flat in the two city corporations. In some areas the fee is Tk 100-200 and in some areas it is Tk 300-400.
Even the waste collectors do not give any kind of receipt memo
for the collected fee in most cases. The city corporations don’t get any part of the collected money. As it is a lucrative business, the syndicate is working on waste collection in the city forcibly.
There are 129 Wards in the two city corporations of the capital city. Of these, 93 wards were earlier, 36 wards have already been added later. The situation is almost the same in all the wards, sources said.
But the city dwellers and the urban planners think that the authorities of the two city corporations of Dhaka could have stopped such trade of waste collection in the capital if they wanted.
Chattogram and Rajshahi cities have brought discipline in waste collection. The authorities of these two city corporations collect waste directly from the homes by their own staff. The city corporations pay the waste collectors.
The house tax levied by the city corporation includes the cleaning tax in those cities. With this tax money, Chattogram and Rajshahi City Corporations are directly collecting waste from the homes.
On the other hand, the two city corporations of Dhaka also take 2 percent of the house tax every year for cleaning. In the last financial years, the two city corporations of Dhaka have collected average more than Tk 150 crore in cleaning tax from the residents, sources said.
However, instead of collecting waste directly from homes of the residents, they are giving the opportunity to the leaders and activists of the ruling party for looting money.
City Corporation officials say that according to the law, the city corporation has the opportunity to collect waste directly from the houses.
Md Abu Naser, Public Relations Officer of the DSCC, said that the DSCC are taking 2 percent of the house tax every year for cleanliness. But it is collected to bear the waste from secondary transfer station (STS) to landfill and the city corporation is not bound to collect the waste from the homes directly, added the official.
He also said that there was no fixed fee for all the organizations that used to collect waste from the houses in the past years but in August this year the DSCC has decided to fix the fee worth Tk 100 for every house.
Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC)’s Public Relation Officer ASM Mamun also echoed the DSCC’s official that DNCC takes fee for cleanliness with the house tax every year but that is only for bearing the waste from secondary transfer station to landfill not for collecting the waste from the homes directly.
About 5000 tons of waste generates every day in Dhaka. Private waste collection organizations are required to register with the city corporations as waste management associations. Now more than 300 organizations are working for this purpose in Dhaka. However, the city corporations don’t have any policy regarding these organizations.
