RHD seeks Tk 6.38b for road repair
Saturday, 31 December 2011
FHM Humayan Kabir
The Communications Ministry has sought Tk 6.38 billion in additional funds from the government to rehabilitate and repair the damaged roads and highways, officials said Friday.
We have sent the demand for additional fund to the Planning Commission (PC) so that we can get it for use in the last half of the current fiscal year (FY), a senior ministry official said.
The PC allocated an additional Tk 820 million fund two months ago for the emergency road repair scheme as per the demand of the ministry.
In the original annual development programme (ADP), the emergency road repair project of the state-owned Roads and Highways Department (RHD) received Tk 500 million allocation.
The government, upon request from the communications ministry, approved the Tk 14.10 billion emergency road maintenance project in last FY (2010-11) for immediate repair of nearly 4,550-kilometre badly damaged roads.
But the state-owned road developer overlooked the damaged roads in the last fiscal most of which turned unfit for vehicular movement during the rainy season.
"Since it is imperative to rehabilitate the country's severely damaged roads, especially the major highways, we have asked for the additional funds," a senior RHD official told the FE.
Meanwhile, experts said almost nothing has been done to repair the roads and highways in the last two years.
They said although the country's road network was on the brink of collapse, the then communications minister Syed Abul Hossain remained preoccupied with ambitious projects like elevated expressway and Padma Bridge.
Due to lack of repair and routine maintenance, highways and intra-district roads have developed numerous potholes, pushing up the frequency of accidents, vehicle maintenance cost and travel time.
In the last rainy season, transport owners and workers in some major routes suspended their operation protesting the ministry's role in this connection.
A high official at the PC said it would be very difficult for the government to allocate such a large (Tk 6.38 billion) additional fund for a single project in the last half of
the current fiscal as the country is now facing fund constraints.
He said the government has allocated some Tk 6.90 billion in the revenue budget for road maintenance works this fiscal.
The Communications Ministry has sought Tk 6.38 billion in additional funds from the government to rehabilitate and repair the damaged roads and highways, officials said Friday.
We have sent the demand for additional fund to the Planning Commission (PC) so that we can get it for use in the last half of the current fiscal year (FY), a senior ministry official said.
The PC allocated an additional Tk 820 million fund two months ago for the emergency road repair scheme as per the demand of the ministry.
In the original annual development programme (ADP), the emergency road repair project of the state-owned Roads and Highways Department (RHD) received Tk 500 million allocation.
The government, upon request from the communications ministry, approved the Tk 14.10 billion emergency road maintenance project in last FY (2010-11) for immediate repair of nearly 4,550-kilometre badly damaged roads.
But the state-owned road developer overlooked the damaged roads in the last fiscal most of which turned unfit for vehicular movement during the rainy season.
"Since it is imperative to rehabilitate the country's severely damaged roads, especially the major highways, we have asked for the additional funds," a senior RHD official told the FE.
Meanwhile, experts said almost nothing has been done to repair the roads and highways in the last two years.
They said although the country's road network was on the brink of collapse, the then communications minister Syed Abul Hossain remained preoccupied with ambitious projects like elevated expressway and Padma Bridge.
Due to lack of repair and routine maintenance, highways and intra-district roads have developed numerous potholes, pushing up the frequency of accidents, vehicle maintenance cost and travel time.
In the last rainy season, transport owners and workers in some major routes suspended their operation protesting the ministry's role in this connection.
A high official at the PC said it would be very difficult for the government to allocate such a large (Tk 6.38 billion) additional fund for a single project in the last half of
the current fiscal as the country is now facing fund constraints.
He said the government has allocated some Tk 6.90 billion in the revenue budget for road maintenance works this fiscal.