PM opens DEE project today

Prime Minister (PM) Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the construction work of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway (DEE) today (Saturday) aiming to reduce traffic congestion in the capital city, reports UNB. Italy-Thailand Development Public Company Limited (Ital-Thai Company) has got the contract to build the expressway at a cost of Tk 87.03 billion. Under the contract, the company will build the expressway from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to Kutubkhali on Dhaka-Chittagong highway under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) initiative. The main expressway would be 21-kilometre long though its total length would be 26 kilometres with two link roads. There would be 35 ramps (entry and exit points) on the expressway. Under the 25-year agreement, the Ital-Thai Company has to complete the project in three and half years from the date of issuance of the work order. PM opens DEE The formal order would be issued soon. Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) sources said 60 per cent of the expressway land is ready while the rest (from Golapbagh to Kutubkhali) would have to be acquired. The Cabinet has recently approved the draft of the Dhaka Elevated Expressway Project (Land Acquisition Act) 2011, an exclusive law for timely implementation of the plan. According to the law, people affected by the project would be rehabilitated and provided with compensation. The first 9-km segment of the expressway from Airport to Tejgaon will require 96 acres of land, of which 18 acres belong to private owners.