Prioritising garbage management, greenery and mosquito control, Dhaka North City Corporation Mayor Annisul Huq yesterday announced a Tk 1,601.95 crore budget for the 2015-16 fiscal year.

In his maiden budget speech in the capital's Uttara Community Centre, Annisul hoped cutting garbage related problems by 70 percent.

He said necessary equipment would be purchased and Tk 17 crore would be spent to set up 72 waste transfer stations, the locations of which have already been identified and for which land was being sought from government organisations.

Such construction got Tk 3 crore last fiscal year, added the mayor, who came into office in May.

Annisul said he had already involved experts to make the capital green within the next two years. Initially this will be visible in all the 40 bridges under DNCC and later free plants will be distributed for people to plant on their roofs, he said.

On controlling the mosquito menace which was one of the highlights of his election campaign, he said the expenditure included Tk 3 crore meant for purchasing equipment, which was Tk 1 crore last fiscal year.

He admitted that despite it being another priority issue, not much money had been kept for public toilets as DNCC did not get land to construct those.

The mayor, however, assured that if the land was made available, money would be allocated immediately to construct public toilets.

He said the development expenditure included Tk 249 crore for maintenance and development of roads and infrastructure for traffic management while last fiscal year it was Tk 241 crore.

Annisul also said the revenue earning last year was Tk 521.46 crore.

He assured not increasing holding taxes but said the assessment would be justified.

To achieve the development programmes, DNCC will rely more on revenue income than on funds from the government and donor agencies.

DNCC expects to receive as government grant, foreign finance and private sector investment Tk 476 crore, which was Tk 1,103.50 crore last year.

The government's block allocation will also provide Tk 100 crore and another Tk 35 crore will come from the government's special allocation. The two figures in the last fiscal year were Tk 10 crore and 35 crore respectively.