Public representatives go into hiding in Bagerhat leaving civic services disrupted

Since the fall of the Awami League government, public representatives, including mayors, chairmen, upazila parishad members and councillors of different municipalities and unions of Bagerhat, have gone into hiding.

The absence of these public officials from their offices has disrupted civic services. Locals have demanded that the Local Government Division normalise these services and quickly alleviate the inconvenience of citizens.

"I came to the municipality because I urgently needed a citizenship certificate. But no one could provide me with one since the mayor was absent. After waiting for a while, I met a woman councillor named Kohinoor Akter Dalim. She mentioned that for several days, neither the mayor nor any councillors had been coming to the office," said Monirul Islam, a resident of Bagerhat's Harinkhana area seeking services. 

"Official work cannot be done without the mayor, but I still come and go occasionally," he added. 

Deputy Commissioner of Bagerhat Mohammad Khalid Hossain has already assured that actions will be taken according to directives from the ministry.

"According to the demands of the Local Government Division, we have sent a list of the present and absent public representatives. We will proceed according to further instructions from the ministry," he said.

Bagerhat district comprises of nine upazilas, three municipalities, and 75 unions.

There are 1,041 public representatives in these institutions, most of whom are leaders and activists of the Awami League and its affiliated organisations.

Following the resignation and fleeing of Sheikh Hasina on 5 August amid protests, most leaders and workers have gone into hiding.

Most public representatives are not attending their offices, resulting in citizens not receiving services related to birth certificates, death registrations, citizenship certificates, trade licenses, and inheritance documents.

From morning until noon on Thursday (15 August), no public officials were seen at the Gotapara and Bemorta union parishads. The same was observed in Bagerhat Municipality.

A similar situation was observed in Karapara, Shat Gambuj, Kochua's Radhipara, Badhal, and various other union councils in Bagerhat sadar.

However, in some places, the entrepreneurs and secretaries of the parishad were seen.

"I come to the office. Many citizens also come for services. But since the chairman is absent, we cannot provide any services. We explain this to those who come here," said Saiful Islam, an entrepreneur at Karapara union parishad.