Dhaka South City Corporation mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh on Sunday claimed that the city had witnessed developmental strides equivalent to 40 years in his four-year tenure in office.
The mayor made the claim while addressing a press conference at Nagar Bhaban in the capital marking his four-year tenure as the DSCC mayor.
With its own finances, totalling more than Tk 1,200 crore, the corporation had done the construction of new infrastructure and executed development and renovation projects, he said.
Taposh said that the corporation expanded without raising taxes, establishing 25 new sectors and commencing revenue collection from 14 of them, resulting in a record revenue collection of Tk 1031.97 crore during the 2022-23 financial year.
Mentioning that only 24 secondary garbage transfer stations were built in the last 50 years, the mayor said that he built 41 new stations only in four years.
In 2018, the government formed a bus route rationalisation committee to discipline the bus services in Dhaka, making the mayor its head.
When asked about the progress in disciplining mass transport of Dhaka in the last four years, Taposh said that they were facing challenges as investors in the sector were not found.
‘I will no longer start Dhaka Nagar Paribahan with old buses. I request the government to exempt taxes for buses to draw the attention of new investors in the sector,’ he continued.
The mayor noted that since assuming office, he successfully curbed corruption among service providers, resulting in the termination of 38 DSCC officers and employees, while appointing a total of 879 staffs through various recruitment processes.
Claiming success in dengue control, the mayor said that in 2023, DSCC councillors and mosquito control workers visited more than 27,000 establishments and addresses, provided by the Directorate General of Health Services, to destroy mosquito breeding grounds.
‘DSCC is employing the finest pesticide draw and it has 1,050 mosquito control workers, operating across 75 wards,’ he informed. Â
In next one year, Taposh will prioritise five sectors, including construction of inner circular roads and restoring the four major canals and old Buriganga channel.
 ‘If we can construct an inner ring road – Postogola to Gabtoli – Dhaka city will see a massive change in roads, reducing traffic jams substantially. Four major canals – Jirani, Shyampur, Kalunagar and Manda – recovery along with Old Buriganga channel and Dholaikhal are priorities in next one year’, he added.Â
Taposh was elected as the DSCC mayor in February 1 election in 2020 and took office on May 16 that year.
