LGRD ministry gives Chittagong Mayor Nasir 7 days to back up his claim over corrupt bureaucrats

The LGRD ministry has asked Mayor AJM Nasir Uddin to provide within seven days evidence to back his allegation that Chittagong City Corporation was allotted less funds because he had refused to bribe bureaucrats.

The ministry's Local Government Division (LGD) on Thursday wrote to him asking for the proof.

“He must explain, it’s clear,” LGD Secretary Abdul Malek told reporters at the Secretariat regarding the issue.

Mayor Nasir was speaking at a city dialogue programme at the port city on Wednesday when he said: “This time we have received only Tk 800 million. But that amount would have been Tk 3 to Tk 3.5 billion had I bribed the officials according to their demand.”

The audience was surprised with the mayor's fusillade on Wednesday.

“They told me – you’ll get the allocation you want for the city corporation, but you must give us five percent,” Nasir said.

He also said a joint secretary-level official had asked for a luxury SUV to clear a city project recently in another instance.

Secretary Malek in his response said: “He has said whatever he has. We will ask for explanations and evidence.

“He will provide proof and tell us which official in the ministry asked for the vehicle. Whoever it is, he will have to disclose it.”

“He is a politician and a mayor... so he should prove his own remarks. We want explanations from him today (Thursday),” Malek added.

The ministry in the letter to Nasir said that his allegations were ‘very serious’.

“This has tarnished the ministry and the government’s image. That’s why submission of evidence for this is a must.”

It requested the Chittagong mayor to submit the proof in writing within next seven days while specifically mentioning the times and names of the officials who had asked for bribes, who wanted the SUV and who created complicacies regarding disbursement of project funds.

The letter was signed by LGD’s urban development wing’s Additional Secretary Jyotirmoy Datta.

However, after a meeting at the LGRD ministry on Thursday, when asked about his allegations, Nasir told reporters, “I will speak the way I want.”

“I’m here only for work, to attend a meeting. I had to take care of some official business after the meeting and talked (to the secretary) about that.”

Responding to queries about her Chittagong counterpart’s accusations against ministry officials, Narayanganj City Corporation Mayor Selina Hayat Ivy said, “I haven’t faced anything like that yet, I can say that.

“My projects are being cleared. Funds for Narayanganj City Corporation are also being allocated in time, yes, but that is not enough against our demand. But no-one has dared ask me for percentage (commission) or something..,” Ivy said.

She said Nasir’s allegations must be investigated.

Meanwhile, Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Annisul Huq told reporters that he had not heard anything from anyone similar to Nasir’s bribery allegations.