The deadline to upgrade the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway to four lanes has been extended by two more years and the project cost has surged 20 percent.
The third extension and cost hike proposal were approved at the meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC), chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on Tuesday.
The project cost will now be increased from the initially approved figure, Tk 21.68 billion, to Tk 38.17 billion, of which Tk 6.27 billion is being pumped in the form of fresh allocation.
The reviewed deadline is December 2016.
When the project first got the ECNEC go-ahead on Dec 26, 2005, it was supposed to be completed by June, 2012. Later, the deadline was reset to December 2014 following two extensions.
Until January, 81 percent of the project work had been completed and over Tk 25.44 billion spent.
Kamal hedged when reporters asked about the cause of the project’s repeated delay.
As for cost escalation, he said the government had to acquire new land and several diversion roads had to be built.
Roads and Highways Department (RHD) is implementing the mega project.
He said flyovers would be built on the highway at places where it passed through markets.
Eight other projects
Apart from the four-lane Dhaka-Chittagong Highway, the ECNEC on Tuesday approved eight other projects estimated to cost over Tk 49.61 billion.
The total cost of the projects would be met by the national exchequer and funds of the organisations concerned.
The new projects include:
* Establishment of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Novo Theatre in Rajshahi.
* Construction of 12 barracks at various units of the Bangladesh Police.
* The building of 456 flats for government officials and employees at Malibagh, in Dhaka.
* Construction of 288 residential flats for Public Works Department officials and employees at Dhaka’s Mirpur-6.
* Development of roads, drains and footpaths of Comilla City Corporation; renovation of water supply system in metropolitan Rajshahi.
* Construction of a 282.55-metre PC girder bridge over the Banar River on the Mymensingh-Gafargaon-Tok road and the development of Faridpur (Maizkandi)-Boalmari-Gopalganj (Bhatiapara) road and Sosrail-Alafdanga road.
Source: Bd news24