Police deployed as BCC sacks121 illegal staff
All employees recruited by Mayor Sarwar were BNP-Jamaat men or his relatives
Police have been deployed at Barisal City Corporation (BCC) office to stave off any untoward incident as the BCC authorities handed down termination letters to all the illegally appointed 121 staff, recruited by Mayor Majibor Rahman Sarwar.
Most of the appointees were BNP-Jamaat activists, recruited between August 2003 and December last year. four of them were Sarwar's relatives, sources said.
Sacking of 121 employees at a time will create problem in delivering emergency services to city dwellers, BCC officials said.
Assistant commissioner of Barisal Metropolitan Police Hayatul Islam said no untoward incident took place since Thursday.
Ward commissioner and mayor-in-charge Awlad Hussein Dilu and BCC chief executive officer Mehdi Hassan said majority of the illegally recruited staff who attended office on Thursday were given dismissal letters.
Besides, dismissal letters were also issued to all the 121 staff by post to ensure that they get those.
The mayor-in-charge said police were deployed on the BCC compound apprehending agitation by the sacked employees.
Talking to this correspondent, some of the sacked employees seeking anonymity said the action was 'inhuman and unjustified'. They said they will go to court for justice.
Mayor Sarwar appointed 124 people from August 2003 to December last year.
Of them, 117 were activists of BNP and its fronts, three Jamaat men and four were his relatives, sources said.
All the appointments were made illegally as there was no sanction from the ministry and the BCC organogram was yet to be approved, the sources said.
Neither any advertisement was made in newspapers, nor any application called or interview taken in the appointments that triggered protests by different quarters after the media published news on the issue.
The local government ministry in a recent order declared void appointments of 121 of them and asked for files on the rest three appointees for further scrutiny.
Sarwar initiated the process of illegal appointments soon after he was elected mayor in March 2003, the sources said.
As the irregularities triggered protests, the mayor sent a proposal on BCC organogram and manpower structure to the local government ministry on June 2004.
Despite protests, illegal appointments continued till December last year. The latest of 14 officials and employees were appointed by the mayor on December 27 last year.
The 14 appointees included computer operator Afroza Akter, tax collection assistants Ferdous Zahid and Umme Habiba, toll collector Rezaul Karim, office assistant Sheikh Md. Iftekharul Islam, all activists of BNP and its front organisations.
In a bizarre violation of rules, ward Jubo Dal leaders Arafat Hussein Monir and Mainul Islam were appointed sub-assistant engineer and license superintendent respectively.
Illegal appointees included city JCD leader Mohammad Ali Bablu (appointed as taxation official), BNP activists and mayor's relative Zakir Hussein (conservancy inspector), Patuakhali district JCD leader Nurul Islam (market superintendent), Jubo Dal activist Tarikul Islam (store keeper), Charkawa union Jubo Dal leader Rafikul Islam (law assistant) and Jamaat-e-Islami leader's son Md Salauddin (work assistant) at different times in 2004.
Jatiyatabadi Olama Dal leader Enayetur Rahman and BNP activists Haider Ali and Abdul Majid were appointed drivers. BNP activist Abul Bashar was appointed as estate officer.
As a last attempt to regularise the jobs, the mayor held a meeting of ward commissioners on March 11 this year. Thirty out of 40 ward commissioners, most of them belonging to BNP, attended the meeting which decided that the jobs would be regularised at the next meeting, scheduked to be held in July. As Sarwar was arrested on May 29, the July meeting could not take any decision on the issue.
The local government ministry on June this year formed a one-member team headed by Barisal additional divisional commissioner ABM Omar Faruk Chowdhury to probe the allegations.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments