The cost of road construction in Bangladesh is much higher compared to many other countries. To find ways to reduce this expense, the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges has decided to form a review committee.
It is reported that Sheikh Moinuddin, Special Assistant to the Chief Adviser, will be made the head of this committee. The committee is expected to be formed within the next 15 days and will include representatives from the Road Transport Division, the Local Government Ministry, city corporations, and teachers and experts from different universities.
Last Monday, Faozul Kabir Khan, Adviser to the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, himself stated that the schedule of rates of the Public Works Department and the estimated costs of roads are being reviewed. According to him, road construction costs in Bangladesh are 30 percent higher.
It is certainly welcome news that the cost of road construction will be reduced. This realization is valid and necessary. But what about the cases where bills have already been drawn for roads, bridges, culverts, and other construction works that were either abandoned or left incomplete in some areas of the country?
There are even instances where bills were drawn without starting any work at all. How will such large-scale looting be stopped?
Everyone is now waiting for a political government to come to power through elections. We do not say this expectation is wrong.
But if such a government entrusts road construction to the same kinds of people, and they continue to resort to irregularities and corruption at every step, then what will be done? Do we have any commitment to stop such irresponsibility and malpractice?
Besides, for proper road construction, a whole chain of command is involved—from the head of an institution down to the project director, supervising engineers, executive engineers, SOs, ASOs, and work assistants, along with many other officials. In the face of such widespread irregularities, do they bear no responsibility?
What do they do when a contractor draws bills without doing any work? Is it then a case of “ghosts in the mustard seeds”? And how can such ghosts be exorcised?
Reportedly, in Bangladesh, the cost of constructing a four-lane highway per kilometer amounts to hundreds of crores of taka or more. Compared not only to neighboring India but also to other Asian countries, highway construction costs in Bangladesh are several times higher.
If contractors are predetermined in advance, and if expenses and tender conditions are fixed accordingly, then such inflated costs are hardly surprising.
According to a World Bank report on the subject, Bangladesh spends far more per kilometer of road construction than neighboring India and China—sometimes nearly ten times more than some Indian roads.
They attribute rising road construction costs in developing countries to factors such as the distance from markets, lack of tender competition, delays in project implementation, conflicts, and high levels of corruption.
The cost of building a road may vary depending on the soil conditions of the land on which it is constructed, but why should expenses be this excessive?
In reality, what we witness in Bangladesh can only be described as plunder. Have we taken, or are we able to take, proper and lawful measures against it? Questions also remain regarding the quality of roads built in our country. In many cases, roads start to deteriorate shortly after their inauguration.
Does this not amount to misuse and wastage of state funds? And yet, Bangladesh even has a road research laboratory. Then what exactly are they researching, if not these issues?