JICA chief Tanaka visits Jamuna Bridge

The visiting JICA President Akihiko Tanaka is ‘impressed’ to see Bangabandhu Jamuna Bridge that established links between eastern and western regions of Bangladesh. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the Bangabandhu Bridge over the river Jamuna in August 1998. The bridge was constructed with loan from Japan. Tanaka arrived in Dhaka on Saturday on a four-day visit, first of any President of the Japan’s development arm in eleven years. According to JICA’s Dhaka office, the JICA President was ‘impressed by the well- maintained giant Jamuna Bridge, the construction of which required high technology and great efforts from many people’. He recognised the importance of this bridge and acknowledged that ‘this bridge generated not only economic growth but also created big social impact to the people concerned, connecting the regions’. On Sunday, Tanaka visited different villages under Tangail district to see its projects. He visited Karatipara village of Basail upazila where local women sell Japanese hair care and cosmetic products and work to enhance basic knowledge on health care such as nutrition and sanitation. He also witnessed the activities under the UDCC or Union Development Coordination Committee at Garinda union that links village residents with public services, according to a news agency.