Barishal city quietly changes hands

Incumbent Barishal Mayor Serniabat Sadiq Abdullah is losing all his grip over the city after a new mayor was elected last week.

Over the last five years, between Tk 30 crore and Tk 35 crore had been collected annually mainly from the transport sector, according to different estimates.

Followers of Abul Khair Abdullah, who won the city corporation election on Monday with 87,808 votes, started taking control of the city soon after the ruling Awami League nominated him for mayor two months ago.

Jahangir Hossain, president of Barishal city AL, however, told The Daily Star that no leader or activist of the party was ever involved in "illegal toll collection".

He refused to make comments when asked specifically about Sadiq's and Khair's men.

Sadiq did not answer the calls made by these correspondents.

Talking to reporters, mayor-elect Khair recently said, "I will not tolerate irregularities… I will rather try to solve the crises that were created earlier."

Muhammad Rubel, who drives a battery-run auto-rickshaw, said until about a month ago, everyone operating such rickshaws had to pay Tk 20 every day to the mayor's men.

The city corporation in March gave each driver a token.

But several city corporation officials requesting anonymity said the money collected from the battery-run auto-rickshaws over the years was not deposited to the corporation's account.

Abdur Rahim, a traffic inspector of Barishal Metropolitan Police (BMP), said there are around 12,000 auto-rickshaws in the city.

According to an estimate, the total amount collected from auto-rickshaws may reach Tk 8.76 crore a year. The toll collection stopped after the ruling AL decided not to nominate Sadiq.

Transport sector insiders say owners of each CNG-run three-wheeler used to pay the owners' association Tk 500 a month.

The president of the association, Dulal Mia, is known as a close aide to Sadiq. People in the sector say most of the money collected in the name of the association used to be taken by Dulal. This activity also came to an end in mid-April. 

Contacted, Dulal said his association collected the money for workers' welfare.

BMP traffic officials say there are around 3,200 different types of fossil fuel-powered three-wheelers in the city.

Transport association leaders estimate that around Tk 1.92 crore is collected from owners of these vehicles every year.

On the city's waterways, a group used to make each operator of the 150 speedboats pay Tk 100 a day. This means around Tk 54 lakh was collected from them a year.

Shekhor Chandra Das, a local AL leader from ward-10, used to collect the money, locals said. Shekhor said he had never taken any money illegally.

Drivers of over 200 rental microbuses had to pay a close aide to Sadiq Tk 100 every day. The amount collected from them every year could be as much as Tk 73 lakh. This also stopped when Sadiq did not get the AL ticket.

A former Chhatra League leader who is a follower of Sadiq, used to collect Tk 1,000 a month from each of the around 400 buses that used the Nathullabad terminal. Transport companies setting up ticket booths had to pay him between Tk 20 and Tk 30 lakh, said at least a dozen bus operators.

Currently, Aftab Hossain, president of Barishal district Sramik League and a close aide to Khair, is in control of the business.

Aftab maintains that he has nothing to do with toll collection.

Each of the Buses that use Rupatali terminal pays Tk 500 each day.

A Sramik League leader who is a close aide to Khair now controls the terminal, but two months ago, a follower of Sadiq held sway.

Fish sellers say they have to pay Tk 3.5 for the sale of each kg of Hilsa, and Tk 2.5 for other fish.

There are around 200 wholesale fish traders in the city where tonnes of fish are sold every day.

Asked about these, BMP Commissioner Saiful Islam said, "We will definitely take action if anyone files a complaint."