Rent burden force many out of Dhaka

Almas Bepari, a canteen staff of Bangladesh Bank was living in the capital's Chittagong road for the past decade, until the pandemic forced his family to shift to Cumilla earlier this month.

Almas and his son are still living in Dhaka, at a hostel in the same area. "I sent my family back to Daudkandi in Cumilla. Previously, my son and I made around Tk 35,000 per month, which was enough to pay the rent of Tk 7,000 for our two-room flat. But our income has significantly declined in recent days," Almas said. His son is a trader at a small shop in Abdullahpur, and the two of them are now paying Tk 2,500 for their room at the hostel.

"We could maintain the six-member family at the house in Chittagong road as the area was cheaper in comparison to the rest of the city," said Almas, "But our income has been halved because of the pandemic."

"I sent my family to the village because the living cost is lower there," he explained.

Md Ratan (not his real name) lived in a flat at Kalshi of Mirpur. He said he had been paying Tk 15,000 rent for the past five years.

"I was earning around Tk 50,000 as a sales representative of an IT firm, but I have been struggling as it has been difficult to reach clients during this time," said Ratan, who shifted to the village in April along with his wife and children.

"I had admitted my four and a half year old son in a reputed school to ensure a better future for him, but this pandemic has forced us out of the city, leaving all dreams of a better life behind," he said.

Like Almas and Ratan, many have become part of a coronavirus-induced exodus out of Dhaka. Thousands have lost their source of income, while others are earning only a fraction of their usual income. In such a state, it is impossible to survive in a city where cost of living is increasing every year.

Some tenants had to sell their belongings to pay rent, while some others opted for leaving without a notice to house owners as they could not manage the money for rent. On the other hand, house owners are not being able to let out their spaces despite lowering the rent.

"I lost my job in May after I demanded my due salary. The employer was offering only half of my salary for the months of April-May," said Sagor Hossain Khan, an automobile technician at Selim Auto Mobile near FDC in Tejgaon, who left the city for Chandpur this month.

He said his family sold their furniture and some other valuables at a low price before leaving the city as it would be costly for them to carry those to Chandpur.

Md Bahraine Sultan Bahar, president of Bharatia Parishad demanded that the government make arrangements to exempt tenants from three months of rent and utility bills.

Bahar said many are leaving the city because they cannot afford rent and bills.

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid on Wednesday at a virtual press briefing said the time to pay delayed gas and electricity bills without surcharge will not be extended further after June 30.

On March 22, just before the start of the government-declared closure to curb the spread of coronavirus, the power, energy and mineral resources ministry announced that household consumers will not be charged extra for delayed payment of gas bills until June this year.

Separate circulars from the power division and the energy division were issued in this regard.

Upwards of millions have lost their livelihoods and have subsequently slid back into poverty. As many as 35 percent of the 160 million population are now under the poverty line, according to the Centre for Policy Dialogue.

LGRD Minister Tajul Islam last month told the Daily Star that they had received a request letter from the BGMEA to provide support to their workers.

"Based on the request letter from the BGMEA president, we have issued such letters to all city corporations, municipalities and union parishads to take necessary steps and reduce house rent by 50 per cent for RMG workers," he said.

The minister said the authorities concerned will sit with owners and tenants in this regard as they cannot impose this directly on owners.

Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Atiqul Islam also said last month that it is indeed a dilemma and they have to sit with both parties (landlord and tenant) to come up with a solution.