Further time extension for its completion likely

The Dhaka-Mymensingh Four-lane Highway project is unlikely to be completed within the time extended until June this year, officials said.
Progress of the project varies according to the constructing organisations while, sources said, there might be 50 per cent progress by June this year.
A source at a construction company said since it is not possible to complete the work within the stipulated period; requests might inevitably be made to the government for further extension of time.
Contracts of constructing the 87 kilometre (km)-long highway were awarded among the Bangladesh Army and two other local construction firms that formed a joint venture with foreign companies.
The four-lane project was divided into four phases (contracts 1, 2, 3 and 4) and the Army is responsible for contracts 1 and 2, MBEC-PBL (JV) for contract 3 and MCCC (No 4)-SEL-Toma (JV) for contract 4.
Meanwhile, the project director said it was not possible to complete the job by the construction firms within the scheduled time as there were many obstacles at the initial stage.
He said until April 20 last progress made by the Army which is constructing 30.25 km of the highway from Joydevpur to Mauna is 28 per cent. They started their job in December 2012 and sought two years' time.
Out of 87 km, some 56.5 km is under the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) and both the MBEC-PBL (JV) and MCCC (No 4)-SEL-Toma (JV) are working under the RHD for 30 km and 27 km respectively.
The project director said the firms faced trouble in land acquisition, cutting of trees and removal of the utility services.
He said the progress made so far both by the Army and the private firms is satisfactory following solution to the problems.
An official at a construction firm said, "The permission for cutting trees was given in the ECNEC (Executive Committee of National Economic Council) meeting and we had to wait until we got the go-ahead."
He said, "We also faced trouble in land acquisition, removal of utility services at the initial stage and it was also difficult to do some work due to political unrest last year."
To meet the increasing pressure of northern districts-bound vehicles on this highway the government has decided to turn the existing narrow road into a four-lane highway with its own fund.
Another official at the RHD said after completion of the project vehicles running towards northern districts and from there to Dhaka would ply the road easily and would be able to avoid accidents remarkably.
Relating to the quality of construction an official said, "We are testing all the construction materials in our site lab."
He said both the public and private consultants and engineers are always monitoring the quality of work.