The communications minister has said a few more months will be needed to “completely eradicate the people’s sufferings” on the Dhaka-Chittagong highway.
While visiting the road at Sitakunda on Sunday, Obaidul Quader ordered his ministry to keep the key highway in operation during the Eid-ul-Fitr.
Quader’s visit comes two days after an organisation of transport owners threatened to go on a strike if Dhaka-Chittagong highway repair works were not completed soon.
He said the stretch of the highway from Sitakunda to Chittagong was causing the problem for the commuters.
The minister said widening the highway was a “very difficult” task as there were many mosques, temples, graveyards and educational institutions along the road.
Those “problems” have been solved and the works on the highway were on, he said.
On Friday, the government banned movements of heavy cargo — except garments, fuel and perishables — on roads three days prior to Eid and two days after it.
Quader hoped the Dhaka-Chittagong highway repair work would be completed within five to seven months.