Protesters have laid siege to the Wasa building in Chittagong, demanding the resignation of Managing Director (MD) AKM Fazlul Haque.
The protest, organized by the Chittagong Anti-Discrimination Citizens’ Society, began at 11am on Tuesday.
During the siege, demonstrators were seen chanting slogans demanding the MD's resignation.
Various organizations have been staging demonstrations for the past three days calling for the same cause.
When protesters attempted to enter the MD's office at the Wasa building, but were blocked by some employees. Army personnel later arrived at the scene to bring the situation under control.
In this regard, AKM Fazlul Haque said: "The protesters are alleging that I have engaged in project irregularities and nepotism. These accusations are completely false. I did not take a single penny from the project. No one has been employed through nepotism.
“I took charge of Chittagong Wasa in 2000 when it was in a dilapidated state. At that time, Wasa's production capacity was only 12 million litres of water. It has now been increased to 560 million litres.”
The civil society group held a protest on Sunday, issuing a 17-point demand, including the resignation of the Wasa MD. The following day, the Jatyatabadi Sramik Dal issued a seven-day ultimatum with a four-point demand.
In this context, SM Nazer Hossain, vice president of the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB), said: "The Chittagong Wasa MD has been involved in numerous irregularities and corruption. He has failed to complete any project on time, with each project experiencing delays and cost overruns due to corruption. We issued a 24-hour ultimatum for his resignation, but he did not comply. As a result, concerned citizens of Chittagong are holding a program today to surround WASA Bhaban, demanding his resignation. This movement will continue indefinitely."
Engineer AKM Fazlullah retired as superintending engineer of Chittagong Wasa in 2000. After the Awami League came to power, he was first appointed chairman of the Chittagong Wasa Board on July 6, 2009, for a one-year term. He was reappointed for another year.
In 2011, the position of managing director was created at Chittagong Wasa, modeled after Dhaka Wasa, and the board was restructured. Subsequently, Fazlullah, then the chairman, was appointed as managing director, a position he has held ever since.