Doing business without permission not possible: Mayor Atiqul

Voicing displeasure over the chaotic use of illegal billboards and signboards in the city, Mayor of Dhaka North City Corporation Atiqul Islam today said no one will be allowed to do business without permission from the authorities concerned.

"We've repeatedly asked them [different companies] for a month to remove these signboards we're removing now. We issued notices in the newspapers, but they didn't pay heed to that. No one has paid tax for using these signboards, though they're doing business," he said.

Atiq made the comments while inspecting the illegal signboards removal drive in the city's Uttara area.

"The mayor and councillors are the guardians of this city as they're elected by people's votes. The mayor's responsibility is to make this city a comfortable one for its dwellers. These signboards are in a complete mess. We'll take legal action wherever we find irregularities," Atiqul warned.

The mayor said similar drives will also be conducted in other areas of the DNCC. "We'll gradually go to Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Maghbazar, Kawranbazar, Malibagh and other areas where there are illegal signboards and billboards. Since we've a manpower crisis, we're doing it slowly."

Atiqul said their city corporation must collect taxes to keep the city clean, kill mosquitoes, and even to pay the salaries of their employees.

Meanwhile, five magistrates of the DNCC conducted drives in different areas of Uttara against keeping construction materials on roads and footpaths illegally and erecting illegal signboards.

About 900 illegal signboards were removed and Tk 1.91 lakh was realised by fining different institutions through the mobile courts.