Finance minister AHM Mustofa Kamal has allocated Tk. 64,580 crore for the communication infrastructure sector in the next FY2020-21, which was Tk. 64,821 crore in the current FY2019-20.
The announcement was made while the budget for the next fiscal was placed at Jatiya Sangsad on Thursday.
He said “To transform Bangladesh into a developed nation by 2041, it is important to ensure that we have a modern, safe and environment-friendly transportation and communication infrastructure. To that end, the government has laid emphasis on creating a coordinated communication network by making a massive investment in the country’s overall communication infrastructure comprising roads, bridges, railways, water-ways and airways.”
The finance minister said, “The government is implementing a bunch of projects for upgrading 1 thousand 140 kilometers roads of the country’s important regional highways to appropriate standard and width, and upgrading district highways to appropriate standard. Besides, as part of the plan to upgrade national highways throughout the country into 4 or more lanes, the upgradation work of the Elenga-Hatikumrul highway into a four-lane road with service lanes on both sides is underway”.
“Physical progress in the SASEC Road Connectivity Project to connect Bangladesh with regional and international transport networks is 75.48 percent. The government has completed the construction of the first expressway of the country, an uninterrupted four-lane road with service lanes on both sides, stretching from Jatrabari intersection in Dhaka to Maoa and from Pachhor to Bhanga, and opened it for regular traffic. In FY2020-21, we will commence work for upgrading the Dhaka-Sylhet highway into four-lane with service lanes on both sides and the Rangpur-Burimari highway and Sylhet-Tamabil highway into four-lanes, and will also commence work for constructing a bridge over the Mongla channel and the Kewatkhali bridge over the Brahmaputra river in Mymenshing”, added the finance minister.
He said to create a planned and coordinated modern public transport system in and around the Dhaka city and adjacent areas, the government have been implementing the Revised Strategic Transport Plan (2015-035). Under this, construction of Bangladesh’s first metro rail network (MRT Line-6) from Uttara to Motijheel and bus rapid transit (BRT Line-3) from Hazrat Shah Jalal International Airport to Gazipur are progressing fast, he added.
Kamal said the main construction work for implementing two more metro rail networks (MRT Lines-1 and 6) will commence in the next fiscal year. Besides, to ensure road safety, steps have been taken to mark 2 thousand 550 kilometers of highways, and remove eye-sight barriers/trees in the intersections of 1 thousand 950 kilometers of highways, he added.
The finance minister said to create public awareness on road safety, the government has declared 22nd October as the ‘National Safe Road Day’.
Kamal said to establish an integrated and uninterrupted communication network in the country, many large projects, including the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel under the Karnaphuli river, the Dhaka Elevated Expressway from Hazrat Shah Jalal International Airport to Kutubkhali on Dhaka-Chattogram Highway, are being implemented. Construction of the Padma Bridge with the government’s own financing is progressing fast, he added.
The works for Maoa and Janjira connecting roads and Service Area-2 have already been completed, he said adding that overall physical progress of the Padma Bridge project upto February 2020 is 78.0 percent; 4.5 kilometer of the bridge has so far become visible. 51 percent of construction work of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel has already been completed.
Besides, construction work of the 24 kilometer-long Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway is expected to begin soon, the finance minister said. There is a plan to carry out a Feasibility Study to construct a tunnel under the Jamuna river connecting Gaibandha and Jamalpur districts, he added.
The finance minister said feasibility Studies were carried out to construct five large bridges in the southern part of the country over the Paira river on Patuakhali-Amtali-Barguna road, the Meghna river on Bhulta-Araihazar-Nabinagar road, the Tetulia and Kalabadar rivers to connect the Barishal district with the Bhola district, and the Bishkhali river in Barguna-Patharghata road, and efforts are being made to get finance for their construction.
The government has taken a number of measures for the overall development of the railway sector, Kamal said adding that implementation of the 30-year ‘Railways Masterplan (2016-2045)’ at a cost of Tk. 5,53,662 crore has already begun.
Mustafa Kamal to this regard said, “The implementation of the Dhaka to Padma Bridge Railway Link Project is progressing fast. Construction of 900 km dual gauge double track and 1 thousand 581 km new rail track, refurbishment of 1 thousand 527 km rail track and 100 passenger coaches, procurement of 31 locomotives, and improvement of the signaling system in 222 stations will be done in the next fiscal year. Besides, steps will be taken to begin implementation of the construction of the High-Speed Dhaka-Chattogram double track rail line project via Kumilla/Laksam, the Bhanga Junction (Faridpur)-Payra rail line project via Barishal, the Navaron-Satkhira-Munshiganj broad guage rail line project, and the Dhaka City Circular rail line project”.
On the other hand, Kamal maid, to enhance the goods handling capacity of the country’s sea ports and raise their standards to the international level, plans have been taken up to construct new container terminals, overflow container yards, bay terminal and bulk terminal, and procure vessels.
Besides, plans are afoot to carry out dredging of port-connecting river channels, and upgrade port-connecting roads into six-lanes and four-lanes, he said adding that “To enhance the goods handling capacity of river ports, plans have been taken up to build inland container river-ports, erect pillars along the river banks, safeguard river banks, construct necessary structures including walkways and jetties, and remove waste from river beds. International passenger terminal for passengers, and modern warehouse, yards, transshipment shades, weighbridge scales and other structures for storing imported goods have been built at the Benapole Land Port.”
“We have taken steps for the modernisation and capacity building of Bangladesh Shipping Corporation and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation”, Kamal added.
The government has taken effective steps to build a world class civil aviation system to ensure safe, efficient and dependable fast passenger and goods transport. As part of the plan to improve the standard and scope of passenger and cargo handling capacity of our international airports, the work to build the third terminal at Hazrat Shah Jalal International Airport is underway, and the work to upgrade Coxes Bazar and Saidpur Airports into international airports is progressing fast, he said.
“Plans have been taken to build the Khan Jahan Ali Airport in Bagerhat, and expand and refurbish the Jessore, Saidpur, Barishal, and Rajshai Shah Makhdum Airports. Besides, plans have been taken up to establish an international standard Civil Aviation Institute in the country, expand the aircraft fleet of Bangladesh Biman, our national flag career, increase its weekly frequencies to different profitable routes, and expand or reestablish its services to high demand routes, such as Quangzhou, Chennai, Colombo, Tokyo, Toronto, Bahrain, Sharjah, New York and Salalah”, Kamal further added.
