Staff Correspondent

The interim government has increased the duration of the Matarbari deep-sea port project in Cox’s Bazar’s Maheshkhali by three years and the cost by Tk 65.73 billion, a rise of about 37 percent.

The expenditure of upgrading the four-lane Hatikamrul-Rangpur highway from Tangail’s Elenga has also been raised by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council, or ECNEC, at its meeting on Monday.

The spending of the deep-sea port project was initially estimated at Tk 177 billion during the Awami League government, along with its term until Dec 31, 2026.

In the first amendment, the cost of the project was slightly increased to Tk 178 billion.

The expense of the revised project in the second phase stood at Tk 243.81 billion.

Without explaining the reason for the increase in expenditure by more than a third, Planning Advisor Wahiduddin Mahmud said the cause for the increase is ‘technical and he is not fully ‘aware’ of it."

The Japan International Cooperation Agency, or JICA, would provide the additional amount to the interim administration as a loan, he said.

The period of the country's first and only deep-sea port project has also been extended by three years until December 2029.

A total of four projects were approved at the second ECNEC meeting of the interim government. The cost of two revised projects among them has been increased. The rest of the two projects are new.

At a briefing after the meeting, the planning advisor said it could be the only ‘major infrastructure project’ of the transitional government.

"Since a jetty has been built in Matarbari, we have considered the project of building a deep-sea port there. It's a big project with a lot of geopolitical significance and who is implementing it is also a big issue."

Highlighting the importance of the project, Mahmud said: "We all know that we need a deep-sea port. Chattogram and Payra ports do not have that capacity. When Bangladesh's trade will expand further, the spending will be much higher if we don't have a deep-sea port.

“We dared to approve this because there was a lot of tension about whether China would implement it or India, but nothing was finalised for a long time."

"Japan gives loans on very easy terms. The Japanese projects are probably the only projects that... [to some extent, South Korea also] completed on time at the right cost. Such as metro rail's MRT Line-5 and third terminal at Dhaka airport."

COST OF SECOND PROJECT ALSO RISES

A total of four projects – two revised and two new – were presented at the meeting.

The second revised project is the four-lane upgradation of the Elenga-Hatikamrul-Rangpur highway under the South Asia Subregional Economic Cooperation, or SASEC, Road Link Project-2.

The cost of the project has been increased to Tk 3.76 billion.

ECNEC has also increased the spending on the four-lane highway project from Tangail’s Elenga to Rangpur on the northern route by about Tk 3.67 billion.

The Awami League government had initiated the project at Tk 118.99 billion. Later, the expenditure was increased to Tk 186.79 billion in two phases.

After a raise by the interim government, the new expenditure will stand at Tk 190.65 billion.

Stating that the duration of seven more projects has also been extended without increasing the cost, the advisor said: “The current projects are being revised. That is taking time.

"Private sector investment is low, if projects get slow, the flow of money will not increase. To raise it, the work of the previous project must be moved forward and some new projects should be in."

KALURGHAT BRIDGE AT A COST OF TK 115 BILLION

As a new project, a ‘rail-cum-road’ bridge over the Karnaphuli River in Chattogram’s Kalurghat has been taken up at a cost of Tk 115 billion.

The Resilient Urban and Territorial Development Project has also been approved to 'decentralise the capital and reduce traffic congestion' by increasing civic facilities in city corporations and municipalities outside Dhaka. The cost has been estimated at Tk 59.01 billion.

A policy will be made to implement the projects so that "no government can make a change at its will," the advisor said.