DSCC: Waste collection fees still exceed Tk 100, garbage not collected regularly

Lamia Akter, a resident of Dhanmondi area in the capital receives a monthly waste collection bill of Tk 120. But she has to pay an additional Tk 50. No receipt is provided for this extra amount. Another resident of the same area said Tk 160 is being collected from each household.

Arvin Sonia, a resident of Mir Hajirbagh area in Jatrabari, alleged that even more money was being collected from them. She told Prothom Alo that she still has to pay Tk 200 a month yet waste is not collected every day. For the past two to three months, workers have been coming to collect waste every two or three days.

Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) has set the monthly fee for collecting waste from households at Tk 100. However, allegations have been raised that the decision is not being followed in various areas.

Residents of different areas under the DSCC said that in some places, an amount close to the fixed fee is written on the receipt, but additional money is collected separately.

In other places, waste is not collected regularly despite higher fees being charged. As a result, residents are suffering from waste piling up and foul stench, among other inconveniences.

When asked about the matter, DSCC Administrator Md Abdus Salam told Prothom Alo that there was no scope to collect more than Tk 100.

He further said action would be taken if allegations of collecting more than the fixed amount were found to be true. If negligence by DSCC officials was found in such cases, action would be taken against them as well, he warned.

In May, Prothom Alo published several investigative reports on the waste collection business in Dhaka’s two city corporations.

A report titled ‘Workers haul the waste, leaders fill their pockets’ revealed that low-income workers do the difficult job of collecting waste from households, but a large portion of the money collected does not reach them and instead goes into the pockets of those who control the business. Those controlling this sector have political affiliations and are locally influential.

Amid discussions over the collection of higher fees, DSCC Administrator Abdus Salam warned waste collection contractors in May. He said that if more than the stipulated Tk 100 was collected from households as waste collection fees, or if waste was not collected every day, the licence of the concerned organisation would be cancelled. However, there have been no reports so far of any organisation having its licence cancelled.

In an office order signed by the DSCC secretary on 4 June, the regional executive officers of the 10 zones were assigned responsibility for overseeing the activities of primary collection service providers (PCSPs).

The order said they must monitor whether PCSPs were collecting waste every day, whether more than Tk 100 was being charged from households, and whether activities at secondary transfer stations (STSs) were being carried out properly. They were also instructed to submit reports to the DSCC administrator every seven days on the overall situation.

However, even after three months, the impact of the order is hardly visible on the ground. Concerning DSCC sources said that although regional officials had been instructed to submit reports every seven days, these were not being submitted regularly. As a result, there is still no comprehensive, central picture of how much is being charged in each ward, where waste is not being collected regularly, or which organisations are violating the rules.

Dhanmondi falls under DSCC Zone 1. The zone’s regional executive officer, Md Masum Billah, told Prothom Alo that he had recently joined the post. He said he was unaware of the directive regarding monitoring and submitting reports. However, he said action would be taken if complaints were received.

Residents of various areas under the DSCC said that simply waiting for complaints would make it difficult to detect irregularities. Some people are collecting money outside the receipts, meaning these transactions are not recorded on paper. There is also concern that if complaints are made, waste collection could be stopped altogether.

Mahmudul Hasan, a resident of Kayettuli in Old Dhaka, told Prothom Alo that Tk 150 is collected every month from each household in their area as a waste collection fee. However, workers come to collect waste only once or twice a week. As waste is not collected regularly, residents have started taking their own waste to a designated place themselves from this month.

A resident of Central Road, which falls under DSCC Ward No. 16, said a fee of Tk 200 is collected every month from each flat in their building.

The situation, however, is not the same everywhere. Shafiqul Islam, a resident of Manda under DSCC Ward No. 71, told Prothom Alo that they used to be charged Tk 120. Since the last Eid-ul-Azha, the fee has been reduced to Tk 100. In other words, there is also evidence that the stipulated fee can be enforced if the authorities wish to do so.

However, the experience of Arvin Sonia, a resident of Mir Hajirbagh, is different. She said Tk 200 is being collected from her household, while waste is not being collected every day.

Mir Hajirbagh and the Jatrabari area fall under DSCC Zone 5. The zone’s regional executive officer, Akhtar-un-Nesa Shyuli, told Prothom Alo that they had received no such complaints. Teams had been formed at the ward level and everything was under overall supervision. She said action had been taken in many cases involving complaints.

Urban planners said that an office order alone would not stop these irregularities and the waste collection business. The city corporation must publish ward-wise lists of contractors, the stipulated fees, complaint numbers and information on action taken against irregularities. Otherwise, the waste collection business will continue.

Adil Mohammed Khan, professor of Urban and Regional Planning at Jahangirnagar University and an urban planner, told Prothom Alo, “Taking money outside the receipt is not a service; it is extortion. If officials fail to report cases where more than Tk 100 is being collected, they are not preventing irregularities on one hand and, they are creating opportunities for irregularities on the other. Field-level officials must also take responsibility for this failure.”