Major focus on mosquito control
With priority to mosquito control activities, Mayor Sayeed Khokon yesterday announced a Tk 3,631.40 crore budget for Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) for 2019-2020 fiscal, Tk 32.65 crore higher than last year’s.
“We have kept Tk 43.3 crore for mosquito control activities in the current fiscal, which was Tk 26 crore last year,” said the mayor while announcing the budget at Nagar Bhaban.
He said they have taken a five-year plan to control mosquitoes -- specially Aedes -- and have a plan to set up a separate department to conduct proper research and activities.
“We have to work round the year to control Aedes mosquito, and our ongoing works will continue,” said mayor.
Mentioning his pledge to bring dengue under control by the first week of September, Khokon said with the efforts of everyone, the number of dengue cases have started to reduce.
About the DSCC’s waste bin initiative, the mayor said they had set up 57,000 waste bins in 57 wards of DSCC for collection of light waste, but the project did not work due to various reasons.
“We have decided to replace or repair those bins in another design,” said the mayor, adding that they have kept Tk 2.25 crore in the budget for this purpose.
About garbage management, Mayor Khokon said they have kept Tk 12.50 crore for garbage management, which was Tk 10.70 crore in last fiscal.
He said they have already set up 22 secondary transfer stations for waste collection, and construction of a few others are going on.
REPORTERS CONTRADICT MAYOR’S CLAIM ABOUT STREETS
In his budget speech, the mayor claimed that 90 percent streets under DSCC are in pliable condition, and they have modernised drain and footpaths.
But when a reporter disagreed with the claim, the mayor challenged her to prove it, promising a reward if she can do so.
When Salauddin Ahmed Dhali, councilor of ward-17, agreed with the reporter that most of the roads of his ward are in bad condition for the last three years, the mayor instantly show-caused the concerned executive engineer and asked officials concerned to take immediate action to repair the roads as early as possible.
When another reporter told the mayor that councillors are not playing their proper role to monitor anti-mosquito drives, present councillors vehemently opposed it. The heated situation was brought under control upon the mayor’s intervention.
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