BCC announces Tk 197cr budget

The Barisal City Corporation on Wednesday placed its budget of Tk 197,72,35,784 for the 2010-11 fiscal and  the revised budget of Tk 101,21,141,202  for the 2009-10 fiscal.
The corporation has not imposed any fresh taxes on the city dwellers and implementation of about 60 per cent of the announced budget depends on the government and non-government grants.
The Barisal mayor, Shawkat Hossain Hiron, announced the eighth budget of the city corporation at Nagar Bhaban in presence of councillors, BCC and administration officials and journalists at noon.
Marking the 2010-2011 fiscal as the year of development, the mayor declared to make the city children-friendly, free it from drug abuse and turn the city corporation into a service-based organisation.
Hiron in his budget speech highlighted poor health, sanitation and drainage, dilapidated condition of the city roads and shortage of drinking water and lack of entertainment facilities as the main problems faced by the city dwellers.
The proposed budget showed equal income and expenditure of which Tk 62.31 corer would be spent from BCC’s own income and the rest Tk 135.41 corer from government and non-government allocations for development projects.
The city corporation’s income will be generated from taxes, outstanding bills, advance money and fares, government’s block allocation, trade license fees, permanent assets transfer tax and building construction tax, leasing corporation’s assets and sale of tender schedules.
The significant heads for expenditures are Tk 62.31 crore for establishment cost, Tk 118.43 crore for annual development programme including expansion of city streets, garbage management and renovation of drainage system, water treatment plant and water supply, entertainment and beautification projects, Tk 16.98 crore for health, sanitation, environment and infrastructural development in the city.
Marking the budget as insufficient, the mayor urged the city dwellers to cooperate by paying taxes regularly so that the corporation could implement the announced budget smoothly.
Barisal municipality was upgraded as Barisal City Corporation and its jurisdiction areas were extended from 25 square kilometres to 45 square kilometres in 2002. The current population of the city is six lakhs distributed among its 30 wards.

Courtesy of NewAge