Coordination between Service Providing Agencies in City Governance: Case of Dhaka South City Corporation

Abstract

Background of the Study Dhaka is the seventh most densely populated and rapidly urbanized city in the world, most of the services provided for its citizens are administered by two city corporations, namely, Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC). As per the act, City Corporations are responsible for the construction, development, and maintenance of foot over bridges, reducing waterlogging, waste management, street cleaning, managing solid waste, public parks and playgrounds, preserving traditional places, disease and mosquito control, the establishment of city corporation schools and colleges, and ensuring access to utilities. However, many of these services are simultaneously facilitated by some other government organizations such as RAJUK, DWASA, TITAS Gas, BTCL, Roads and Highways, Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Dhaka Power Distribution Company, etc. which work under the jurisdiction of various ministries. The intra and inter-coordination among these agencies eventually becomes the indispensable prerequisite for effective service delivery and citizens’ satisfaction. The existence of the coordination mechanism and the gravity of its’ effectiveness are the issues of investigation in this study. In an effort to address coordination problems and challenges, this study has identified two very important services or activities that are performed by service-providing agencies under the supervision of City Corporation. In the absence of effective coordination between the City Corporation and service-providing agencies, these services would increase the suffering of the general people. This study investigates the role of the Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) in coordinating the service-providing agencies, to be precise, two activities namely, road-cutting activities and primary waste collection from the households. For this purpose, the role of the agencies or organizations that have been studied are DWASA, DPDC, DESCO, BTCL, and TITAS GAS, for road cutting study and Primary Collection Service Provider (PCSP) for waste collection. Objectives The objectives of the study are to evaluate the laws, regulations, and policies of service organizations to comprehend their roles and responsibilities; to look into the extent, type, and level of coordination between DSCC and other organizations; to look into what makes or breaks coordination with regard to development-related road-digging activities and primary waste collection; and to suggest ways to make coordination better. Methods Data were gathered using mixed methods of research which includes both secondary and primary sources of information. Secondary sources include acts and regulations of the DSCC and other service-providing organizations, technical reports, and other documents. Qualitative interviews were conducted with the representatives of the DSCC and other abovementioned service-providing agencies. In addition, a household survey was also carried out to determine the extent of the Coordination between Service Providing Agencies in City Governance: Case of Dhaka South City Corporation Page xi sufferings endured by the public as a result of the lack of coordination related to road cutting and waste collection activities, and whether general people are consulted by the city corporation or other agencies to improve the services. The "System Building Model" and "Follett's Principle of Coordination" are two theories that have been thoroughly examined in order to evaluate and pinpoint the variables that affect coordination. Major Findings Although DSCC is supposed to coordinate all the activities performed and services provided to the citizens of Dhaka South, it has been studied that DSCC in many cases fails to coordinate the activities of different service-providing agencies which causes sufferings to the inhabitants. For road-cutting activities, the implementing agency is supposed to create alternative roads or routes for the passersby and inform the local inhabitants about the project’s start and end date but around 85% of the respondents opined that they were never informed and consulted prior to the commencement of the project. Around 92% of the respondents believed that if they had been informed and consulted earlier, they would have made better preparation plans and had fewer hardships. It was challenging to ensure coordination among them because each agency's statute grants them ample freedom to work independently. It has been noted that dissimilar working methods obstruct efficient coordination processes. For example, DPDC uses new procedures, high-tech equipment, GIS-based mapping, etc. while other agencies that are involved in road cutting use traditional methods. In the majority of cases, however, coordination between the organizations is impossible due to the nature of the services they offer. For instance, because it is risky to work with water and electricity simultaneously, WASA and DPDC might not be able to coordinate their development-related digging efforts. Recently, the Integrated Dhaka City Master Plan was established to unify and coordinate the operations of various service-providing organizations. Although CC does send a letter to the service-providing agencies informing them of the development activities, it has been found that in the majority of cases, there is no involvement with DSCC during the planning and feasibility stage, and as a result, service-providing agencies do not uphold the standards and adhere to the DSCC master plan. Most of the road-cutting service agencies are funded by donor agencies through the Bangladesh Government, however, the date of one organization's financing does not correspond to the timetable of another, leading to a lack of coordination between the organizations. In the case of primary waste collection activities, around 88 percent of the 410 families surveyed had their domestic rubbish picked up by the third-party companies that the DSCC had given the authority. Among them, 83% of the families had no idea how those third parties came to be in charge of waste collection. Households claimed that waste wasn't regularly collected in about 24 percent of cases. More than 70% of residents did not know who to contact if the garbage collection vans from the City Corporation or a third-party service failed to show up to pick up trash. It was Coordination between Service Providing Agencies in City Governance: Case of Dhaka South City Corporation Page xii found that 121 of the 410 households polled knew who to complain to and had made at least one complaint. The bulk of respondents (41.32 percent) stated they registered complaints directly to the DSCC headquarters, while 21.49 percent said they filed complaints with the local city corporation office. Recently DSCC has employed several PCSPs through open tender to collect and dispose of wastage from households and other organizations with a fee of BDT 12 lacs each year by each PCSP, and upon meeting certain requirements, they are granted a license for one year. The synchronization between DSCC and PCSPs has improved in recent years. Moreover, monitoring and supervision have been upgraded at the field level. The PCSPs are not required to organize regular monthly meetings. If anyone lodges a complaint against PCSP, the City Corporation would convene it with the PCSP and ask them to find a solution with the assistance of the respective ward commissioner. According to a Waste Management Officer, no monthly coordination meetings among departments are mandatory and this study also found that, although there is provision, PCSPs in every zone do not provide monthly or annual reports to the DSCC, which discourages ongoing cooperation and hinders the implementation of waste management strategy. A substantial majority of the household respondents were found to be unhappy with the cost, employee behavior, and timeliness of waste collection. The overwhelming majority of families thought that public participation in recruiting or renewal of PCSPs, determination of time of service, and service fees would be very advantageous.