'Projects should be taken and implemented based on public hearings'
The Water Development Board was awarded a Tk5,000 crore project and another Tk1,700 crore to solve the waterlogging in Chattogram, Agrabad CDA and Halishahor, separately
For the successful implementation of projects, coordination among service providers and consideration of stakeholders' opinion are essential to make Chattogram a smart city.
Chattogram, the main financial hub of Bangladesh, manages around 90 percent of import and export of the country. One-third of its total budget is spent on Chattogram.
Speakers said this at the round table discussion "Smart City Chattogram" held at the city's Agrabad World Trade Centre on Saturday.
Speaking as the chief guest, Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Md Tajul Islam said, "The government undertakes a project for the wellbeing of the people. However, people do not always get the expected results.
"Their misery increases as the project implementing organisations fail to engage the stakeholders. Projects should be taken and implemented based on public hearings."
Many people ask why projects of so many organisations are taken at the same time, Tajul said, while pointing out that most of the projects are funded from abroad. "So, a first-come, first-serve policy is followed."
The Bangladesh Water Development Board has been awarded a Tk5,000 crore project and another Tk1,700 crore to solve the waterlogging in Chattogram, Agrabad CDA and Halishahor, separately, Tajul informed.
Chittagong Chamber of Commerce President Mahbubul Alam chaired the programme. Deputy Minister for Education Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury Nowfel, Chattogram Port Authority (CPA) Chairman Rear Admiral Zulfiquer Aziz, and Chattogram University of Science and Technology Vice Chancellor Dr Rafiqul Islam also talked there and suggested ways for making Chattogram a smart city.
