Nasir plans big for Ctg

Plagued by perennial problems, Dhaka and Chittagong -- our two major cities -- go to polls on April 28. What will a mayoral hopeful do to solve those problems if elected? How all the modern amenities will be ensured? What is his vision for the future of the city? Looking for the answers, The Daily Star has talked to a mayoral candidate. 

Restoring the lost glory of Chittagong city will be the prime objective of AJM Nasir.

"Once upon a time, this city was known as the 'Queen of the East'. But unfortunately the glory has faded away due to poor leadership," said Nasir, who is vying for the mayor's office of Chittagong City Corporation with the ruling Awami League's endorsement.

"We can easily bring back its lost fame by tapping its tourism and commercial potentials … as the city is blessed with natural resources and panoramic beauty," said the CCC mayor aspirant in an exclusive interview with The Daily Star on Wednesday.

He considers waterlogging, poor waste management and communication facilities, and lack of quality education and health facilities as the major problems the port city is facing now.

He also claimed to have already drawn up "specific plans" to address the problems and make it a neat and clean and culturally enriched city with modern technological facilities like wifi zones.

Nasir came down heavily upon immediate past mayor Manjurul Alam Manju for failing to solve the longstanding problems of waterlogging and waste management, which he said will top his priority list if he is elected mayor.

AJM Nasir, ruling Awami League-backed mayor candidate in Chittagong City Corporation polls, speaking to a senior citizen during his campaign in the port city's Halishahar yesterday. Photo: Anurup Kanti Das

"Manju used the waterlogging issue to defeat our candidate Mohiuddin in 2010 CCC polls. But he did nothing in this regard after becoming the mayor," he alleged.

"Even during the tenures of ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, the city earned praises from the outsiders for its cleanliness. But in the last few years, the situation became really deplorable," said Nasir.

If he gets the mandate, he would take a combined approach to address the city-dwellers' problems by engaging town planners and experts, Chittagong Development Authority and other government agencies in a well-coordinated and planned way, Nasir went on.

Creating water-bodies, recovering encroached canals and widening drains and canals are some of the steps he would take to mitigate waterlogging, he said.

In a political career that spans over four decades, Nasir has always been overshadowed by AL stalwarts like late Akhteruzzaman Chowdhury Babu and Mohiuddin Chowdhury until 2013 when, to the surprise of many, he was made the general secretary of the ruling party's Chittagong city unit.

Already a well-known organiser engaged with 18 different social and sports bodies, he now sets his eyes on the CCC mayor's chair. Elections to the CCC and the two city corporations in the capital will be held on April 28.

However, it was not an easy job for him to get the green light from the party high-ups as a number of local AL-heavyweights -- including three-time CCC mayor Mohiuddin Chowdhury, Nurul Islam BSc and Abdus Salam -- were also in the race.

Now that he has been able to outmanoeuvre them, has this created any sort of frustration or rift within the party's local unit?

"It is true that there were many party leaders who wished for contesting the mayor polls, and they have the capabilities as well. But once the party high command's decision came in my favour, everyone in Chittagong rallied behind me," Nasir said.

Apart from promises, what else may turn voters to him?

"My party is now in power. It would be easy for me to get cooperation from the government to carry out development work for the city," he replied.