“Blessings” of the power, the dirty trade is going on
Photo Collected
Sahabuddin Ali can be an example of what a businessman has to face if he cannot stay with the power or if the local leaders and workers of the ruling party are ‘dissatisfied’. He once had a business selling old iron and steel in old Dhaka. A year and a half ago, he left that business and joined the work of collecting garbage from people’s homes in the hope of making some extra profit. The story of how he got the job is also linked to the ‘blessing’ of power.
At that time, the rule of the interim government was going on. At that time, Dhaka North and South City Corporation, along with various organizations and offices of the government, were dominated by some people who claimed themselves as the power of the people’s uprising. Although their main work was lobbying and trade. Sahabuddin Ali found such a person. Through that person, he got the job of collecting waste from various houses and businesses in Ward No. 38 of Dhaka South City Corporation (parts of Kaptanbazar and Nawabpur and surrounding areas).
বিজ্ঞাপন
As per City Corporation rules, Sahabuddin had to pay Tk 12 lakh (non-refundable) as security for the work. However, getting the job through tender was not easy. But then he did not have to face any trouble as he had the blessing of power with him. In September 2024, he was able to collect waste from houses in some areas of Ward No. 38, just two months after receiving a one-year work permit from the Corporation.
Prothom Alo talked to Sahabuddin Ali three times in the first week of this May. He said, “They threatened to beat me up.” The BNP people took the job by some force. I earned 12 lakh taka by trading iron and steel for six years. Now the profit is far away, the entire shipment is gone. I went to the influential leaders of the local BNP, but to no avail.
বিজ্ঞাপন
When asked why he left his old business and got involved in garbage collection, Sahabuddin Ali said, ‘There is no loss in this work, there is profit.’
Sahabuddin Ali initially hired 24 workers for waste collection work and also bought vans. Also planned to increase the number of vans as well as personnel; But the job was taken away from him within just two months. Since then he has not been able to engage in any business, he is spending his time unemployed. He only said that he lives with his family in an inherited flat in old Dhaka’s Dhupkhola. The family is somehow surviving on the meager rent of a shop left by father.
Like Sahabuddin, another businessman (female) got a job of collecting waste in September 2024 in Ward No. 58 (Shampur area) of Dhaka South City. However, the local BNP leaders and workers did not allow him to work, alleging that he was involved in the politics of the Jubo Mahila League (now banned).
There are 75 wards in Dhaka South City. The city corporation collects household waste in each ward through various private organizations (van service). An institution for a ward is fixed by tender. To get this work, according to the size of the ward and holding (house), the maximum offerable Tk 17 lakh and the minimum Tk 15 lakh have to be deposited in the corporation fund. Previously had to pay 12 lakhs.
The two city corporation areas of Dhaka have not had a mayor or councilor for two years. Previously, the control of the dirt work was in the hands of the local councilors and some leaders and activists of the Awami League (now banned). Now the control of this work has been taken by the local BNP and some leaders and workers of its organs and affiliated organizations. For example, Mohammad Nahidul Islam, a member of the Jubo Dal central committee, got the task of collecting garbage from houses in ward number 30. Abdur Rahman got a job in ward number 33. He is the president of that ward BNP. Ward BNP president Mahfuzur Rahman got the job in ward number 38 (where Sahabuddin Ali got the job in 2024). Mahbubur Rahman got the job of garbage collection in ward number 40. He is the president of BNP in this ward. Ward BNP president Kazi Abdul Qayyum got the job in ward number 43. Abdus Salam (Hira) got work in ward number 61. He is the joint convener of BNP in that ward. Faisal Hedayet, the joint convenor of Dhaka Metropolitan South Jubo Dal, got the job of garbage collection in ward number 65.
According to multiple sources of the waste management department of Dhaka South City, the responsibility of waste collection in most of the wards has been given to the leaders and workers of BNP and its affiliates and affiliated organizations. Somewhere the ward may have been taken in the name of the BNP president, in some places it has been taken in the name of the leader of some other affiliated organization. In some wards, organizations of people associated with Awami League politics also got work. However, the control of those institutions is now in the hands of the leaders-activists associated with BNP politics.
When Awami League was in power, some leaders and ward councilors of the party controlled the collection of waste in two city corporation areas of Dhaka. On October 13, 2019, an investigative report was published in Prothom Alo under the title of ‘trash trade worth Tk 450 crore in the capital’. It is said in that report that Awami League leaders and workers and local councilors are doing at least Tk 450 crore worth of dirty trade by holding the citizens of the capital hostage. On that day, several reports were published on the front page as well as in the inner pages. In those reports, the involvement of Awami League leaders and workers in the dirty trade came up.
The Awami League government fell in a mass coup on August 5, 2024. After that, the control of the dirt trade in Dhaka South was lost to the leaders and workers of the party. This reporter visited 11 wards of Dhaka South City including Dhanmondi, Jatrabari, Bangshal, Azimpur and Khilgaon for 21 days from April 20 to May 10, 2019 to find out how the work of household waste collection is done, how much money is charged in which area, who is involved in this work, how much political leaders are involved. At this time, he talked to various levels of political leaders, city corporation field level officers, local residents and garbage collection workers and van drivers.
According to the conditions of Dhaka South City Corporation, a private organization can charge a maximum of Tk 100 from a house (flat) for waste collection. However, this condition is not followed by most of the institutions. For example, Ziauddin Prothom Alo, a security guard of a house in Dhanmondi’s 8/A area, told Tk 200 per month from each flat for dirt.
A sherbet shopkeeper in Azimpur area told Prothom Alo that 1000 taka is taken from him every month. He also showed this reporter a receipt of 1000 rupees.
Prothom Alo has found out how much money is charged for garbage in Dhaka South. It can be seen that 200 taka is taken from each flat in Commissioner Road area of East Jurain. Again 100 taka is taken from each flat of some houses there.
250 taka is taken from each flat in different lanes of Kanthalbagan slope. Again, 200 taka is taken from each flat of different buildings near Kanthal Bagan near Hatirpul Bazar. Again 120 taka is taken from each flat for dirt in Mugda-Manda area. 200 taka is taken from each flat in Shahid Bagh area of Rajarbagh. In Taltala area of Khilgaon, the garbage bill is charged at 200 taka. 200 taka was also taken in old Dhaka’s Kayetuli area.
Two officials of Dhaka South City told Prothom Alo, in response to the question why action is not taken even if they collect as much money as they want by breaking the conditions, this is the source of income of some leaders and workers of the party who are in power. Again, if the work is given to someone who has no political affiliation, he is faced with various obstacles and demands for money – such problems the person has to face. There is no point in denying this reality of the country.
Dhaka South City Administrator Abdus Salam said that if someone tries to get extra money for garbage collection work by using political identity or any other influence, they will not be exempted. He said, this issue will be strictly monitored. Those who have been given the job of garbage collection in each ward, have been called and warned—no more than 100 rupees can be taken. If a complaint is found against anyone after this, their license will be revoked.
A company named Shahidullah Construction and Engineering has got the job of collecting garbage from houses in Basabo and Mothertech areas of Dhaka South City (Ward No. 4). Two employees of this organization (managerial level) told Prothom Alo on the condition of anonymity that they have been able to collect garbage for three months from January to March this year with a contribution of two and a half lakh taka per month. On April 5, some Ward BNP leaders forcibly took control of this work by coming to their office.
Prothom Alo contacted Ward No. 4 BNP President (Basabo Branch) Harun Or Rashid over the phone to get his statement regarding the complaint. He said, there is a context to that incident. It cannot be said now. He didn’t want to say anything else.
On the other hand, Ward No. 4 BNP General Secretary (Mothertech Branch) Iqbal Hossain told Prothom Alo, “We have bought the garbage from those who got the job of collecting garbage in this ward.” In the past too, political party leaders and workers used to do this kind of work together. Now we are doing the same. ‘
Later, Prothom Alo contacted the Waste Management Department of the City Corporation about the matter. An official of this department told Prothom Alo, after giving the work (household garbage collection) to an organization through tender, there is no opportunity to explain the work to someone else without any reason in the middle. And in the terms of the tender, it is said that this work for one year is not transferable or sellable in any way.
During the rule of Awami League, a businessman who collected garbage from houses in a ward of South City for 10 years, said to Prothom Alo on the condition of anonymity, that even if he takes 100 taka from each house, he earns an average of three lakh taka per month after excluding all expenses. But most places charge 150-200 taka. As such, each ward earns an average of one and a half lakh taka per month. If four lakh rupees is also taken, then the profit from garbage trade in 75 wards of South City is three crore rupees per month. Annual profit is 36 crores.
According to City Corporation data, there are 2 lakh 93 thousand 881 holdings (buildings/flats) in Dhaka South. If an average of 150 taka is taken from each holding, the monthly income from garbage trade is at least 4 crore 40 lakh 82 thousand taka. A building with six to eight flats has only one holding number. Again there is a holding somewhere in a flat. The City Corporation usually has six flats in a holding, calculated as follows. Taking that into consideration, there are 17 lakh 63 thousand 286 flats in Dhaka South. If an average of 150 taka is taken for each flat, the monthly income from garbage trade is at least 26 crore 44 lakh taka. As of the year which is at least 317 crore rupees.
One of the basic functions of a city corporation is to manage waste. For this reason, 2 percent of the money that Dhaka’s two city corporations take from the household sector every year is taken for cleaning.
The president of Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP), an organization of city-planners, Muhammad Ariful Islam told Prothom Alo that the city corporation has the right to receive basic civic services, including cleanliness, against the house tax that city residents pay every year. Although the corporation has set a fee of 100 taka, in reality, private institutions are collecting as much as they want in many areas. Such measures are not acceptable. It is the responsibility of the city corporation to remove this chaos.
0%
0%
0%
0%
