Chairmen appointed to 8 urban authorities, 7 are BNP leaders

The government has appointed chairmen to eight urban development authorities across the country. These are Chattogram, Khulna, Sylhet, Rangpur, Narayanganj, Mymensingh, Cumilla, and Cox’s Bazar.

Among the eight newly appointed heads of these urban development authorities, seven are leaders of the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). Of them, two contested the 13th parliamentary election as BNP-nominated candidates and were defeated.

The appointments of the chairmen to the eight urban authorities were announced last Thursday through separate notifications issued by the Ministry of Public Administration. All have been appointed on a contractual basis for a duration of one year.

The government has contractually appointed Belayet Hossain as the Chairman of the Chittagong Development Authority (CDA). He is a former joint convenor of the Chittagong north district unit BNP. Belayet was also a BNP nomination aspirant for the Chattogram-3 (Sandwip) constituency in the 13th parliamentary election.

Engineer Mohammad Jasim Uddin has been appointed as the Chairman of the Cox’s Bazar Development Authority (CoxDA). He previously served as the General Manager (Operations) of Jamuna Oil Company Limited, a subsidiary of the state-owned Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation, from which he retired in 2020.

SM Shafiqul Alam, President of the Khulna city unit BNP, has been contractually appointed as the 32nd Chairman of the Khulna Development Authority (KDA). This marks the first time in nearly 28 years that a civilian, outside of the armed forces, has assumed the role of KDA Chairman.

Earlier on Thursday morning, a separate notification recalled the outgoing KDA Chairman, Brigadier General Jahangir Hossain, and reassigned him to the Armed Forces Division.

Rezaul Hasan Koyes Lodi, Acting President of the Sylhet city unit of the BNP, has been appointed as the Chairman of the Sylhet Development Authority (SDA).

He is a four-time former councillor and former panel mayor of the Sylhet City Corporation. He has also served in various capacities within the city BNP, including as joint convenor of the former convenor committee, vice-president, and organising secretary.

Motahar Hossain Talukder has been appointed as the Chairman of the newly formed Mymensingh Development Authority (MDA). He is the joint convenor of the Mymensingh north district unit BNP.

He contested the 13th parliamentary election with the BNP nomination under the ‘Sheaf of Paddy’ symbol but was defeated. Notably, the then-interim government had issued a notification establishing the Mymensingh Development Authority on 12 January.

The government has appointed Udbatul Bari, President of the Comilla city unit of the BNP, as the Chairman of the newly formed Comilla Development Authority (CDA). Udbatul Bari has previously served as the convenor of the Comilla City BNP and was once the president of the Comilla town unit of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal.

Mashukul Islam Rajib has been appointed as the inaugural Chairman of the Narayanganj Development Authority (NDA). He is a joint convenor of the district unit BNP and previously served as the convenor of the Narayanganj district unit of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal.

Samsuzzaman Samu, the convenor of the Rangpur city unit of the BNP, has been appointed as the Chairman of the Rangpur Development Authority. He contested the previous 13th parliamentary election as a BNP-nominated candidate for the Rangpur-3 constituency and was defeated. Earlier in January, the government had issued a notification establishing the Rangpur Development Authority.

[Staff Correspondents from Chattogram, Khulna, Sylhet, Mymensingh, and Rangpur, along with Correspondents from Comilla, Narayanganj, and Chakaria (Cox’s Bazar), contributed information to this report.]