Absence of elected councilors

SINCE the bifurcation of the city corporation into two zones some four years ago, due to an absence of election to these two corporations, government appointed administrators and officials have taken the place of elected representatives. Hence the bulk of Dhaka city residents are unable to avail themselves of the most basic of services within acceptable time spans. Many services like getting a birth certificate which used to be a matter of one working day nowadays may take anywhere between three and ten working days to get. In the past many problems faced by localities were looked after by elected councilors. However, as they have been missing from the scene since 2007, the average resident must go to the respective city corporations to get the job done.

Today's representatives are politically appointed and hence not answerable to residents. This brings up the whole question of accountability, which if we are to go by what has been reported in the press of late, there is little of. And with that comes the question of graft by way of commissions for service that every citizen has an automatic right to get. Whereas the city corporations exist to improve the quality of citizens' lives, they have become conduits of disservice being run by officials who apparently are more inclined to serve themselves rather than the people, which explain the terrible state of city's amenities and road conditions.