He was speaking at a meeting on the city's development plan at the DCC auditorium, with Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman as chief guest.

The finance minister asked the mayor to assess new holding taxes and said the city dwellers have to pay taxes to get the services from the city corporation.

No-one wants to pay taxes willingly, he added.

The minister said the city has expanded in an unplanned way, creating a lot of problems, including traffic chaos.

The government has suggested a second phase of Dhaka Urban Transportation Project (DUTP) to the World Bank as the city needs a subway to ease traffic congestion, he said.

He asked the mayor to take up programmes on education, health and entertainment facilities for the city dwellers and assured him of allocating funds in this regard.

The minister also called for creating scope for the women commissioners to contribute to the development work.

Mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka urged the minister to allocate more funds in different sectors such as mosquito control and garbage cleaning.

He also said that DCC should get a portion from the registration fees collected by the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) as the corporation is responsible for maintaining the city roads.

Ward Commissioners Mosshraf Hossain Manju and Kazi Abul Bashar also spoke at the meeting.