Construction of 190 bridges taken up under political consideration cancelled

The interim government has cancelled a proposal to construct 190 bailey bridges in six districts of Barishal division on the ground that those projects were unnecessarily taken up during Awami League government on political considerations.

The list of the bridges were drawn based on lobbying from local influential persons. This was done when many important bailey bridges’ renovation were left out of the plate.

The proposal of construction of 190 bailey bridges was annulled in the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) meeting on Wednesday, saving Tk 6.39 billion of public money.

Planning Commission sources said many bailey bridges were constructed in six districts of Barishal division (Barishal, Patuakhali, Pirojpur, Bhola, Jhalakathi and Borguna) in the 1990s over rivers and canals.

In 2018, the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) took the initiative to reconstruct 2,049 bailey bridges. The cost of the project, titled “Reconstruction/Rehabilitation of Iron Bridges in the Southern Region of the Country”, was estimated at Tk 18.35 billion.

The length of the bridges ranges between 30 to 35 metres. The cost of the project in 2021 was increased to Tk 23.34 billion.

In the second phase in June last year at the end of the Awami League government, LGED increased the cost of the project to Tk 34.12 billion and sent it to the Planning Commission. Questions were raised at a meeting of the Planning Commission on 12 September as to why the cost of the project was increased without completing the construction of the bridges on time.

In response, LGED informed that the cost of the project was escalated due to the addition of 196 new bailey bridges. The commission raised questions about the proposed bridges in the meeting that day.

The location and necessity of the bridges were reviewed and sorted out.

Meanwhile, the planning commission meeting spontaneously brought up the issue of the bailey bridge in which nine people died when a microbus fell into the river in Barguna’s Amtali in June last year.

It was seen that the risky bridge was not included in the project. Later, it was decided to include six important bridges, including the collapsed bridge, in the project. The commission decided to cancel the remaining 190 bridges. The commission says that these bridges can be built under another project in the future if necessary.

On 22 June last year, nine people lost their lives when a microbus fell into the river at Haldiahat bailey bridge in Amtali upazila. The dilapidated bridge collapsed when the microbus carrying the bride and groom went into the middle of the bridge.

Local people have been demanding the renovation of the bridge for a long time, but the bridge was not included in the project. The people concerned say that no one lobbied for this bridge.

The project was approved at the ECNEC meeting on Wednesday, reducing the cost of the project by Tk 6.39 billion from the Tk 34.12 billion proposed by LGED and setting the cost of the project at Tk 27.73 billion.

When drawing attention to this issue, planning commission’s agriculture and rural institutions division member (senior secretary) Neamat Ullah Bhuiyan told Prothom Alo that it has been decided to cancel 190 bailey bridges from the project. These bridges were not of public importance. The cost of construction of the bridges was considered high. These bridges are not needed at the moment. Political considerations have been taken into account.

He further said there are other alternative bridges near these. At the same time, the current economic situation has also been taken into account.

He stated that the commission has taken the initiative to include Haldiahat in Amtali upazila of Barguna in the project.

According to planning commission sources, a bridge on the Kamarkhali-Kalisuri Matbarhat road in Bakerganj upazila of Barisal was added to the project. The 22-metre bridge is no longer needed. Therefore, the bridge has been left out of the project.

An official of the planning commission told Prothom Alo that four issues were considered behind the decision to cancel these 190 bridges.

These are: the bridges were of no importance to the locals, there is another bridge near these, there is no growth centre or haat or market near these bridges and current economic condition of the country.

According to LGED data, a total of 2,049 bridges were supposed to be constructed under the project. Of these, works of 1,129 were completed and 648 are undergoing. Implementation of construction of 82 bridges hit a snag due to problems in land acquisition, problems with contractors and legal complexities. The remaining 190 bridges have been cancelled.

Planning commission sources said Syed Ahmad Ali was the project director at first. He is accused of irregularities in the project.

Asked about the allegation, Syed Ahmad Ali told Prothom Alo that he retired from government service two years ago and he does not want to comment about it.

Adnan Aktarul Ajam, the current project director, told Prothom Alo that he took charge of the projects several months ago and thus was in dark about many things of the project.

He, however, remarked that many important bridges were not included in the project at the beginning while many unimportant ones were included.

Aktarul Ajam said he does not know why those in charge of the project previously did such anomalies.