Barishal City Corporation: Uncertainty looms for Tk 797cr dev work

The contractor has abandoned the work on Nazir Mohalla Road, leaving behind a pile of bricks on the under-construction road. The road is hardly usable, causing a lot of inconvenience to commuters and locals, especially since it is monsoon now.

— Kajal Das A local resident

After the election to the Barishal City Corporation at the end of last year, the city authority took a Tk 797 crore mega project to develop and renovate 142 roads and 100-kilometre of drains across the city.

Upon approval by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council, work began for renovation of 40 roads and 100-km of drains at a cost of Tk 267 crore in July this year.

However, after the Awami-League-led government resigned on August 5 following a mass upraising, all the ongoing renovation works have stopped.

With the BCC ward councillors mostly on the run, uncertainty now looms over the project's implementation.

According to BCC sources, most of the works under the project were being done by different AL influentials, including the ward councillors.

After the fall of the government, none of their whereabouts could be known. As such, all works of the project, including piling roads, construction of drains, among others, have remained suspended.

So far, at least 18 percent work for renovating 40 roads in Barishal city, including Rajkumar Ghosh Road, Nazir Mohalla Road, and Oxford Mission Road, have been completed, the sources added.

"The contractor has abandoned the work on Nazir Mohalla Road, leaving behind a pile of bricks on the under-construction road. The road is hardly in a usable state, thus causing a lot of inconveniences to commuters and local residents, especially since it is monsoon now," said Kajal Das, a local resident.

Anwara Begum, a resident of Oxford Mission Road, echoed him.

BCC sources said the mayor and ward councillors may remain absent for prolonged time amid the prevailing situation.

Contacted, Abul Bashar, executive engineer of BCC, said letters have already been sent to two contractors.

"If they leave the work, we will cancel their work orders," he added.

Nazrul Islam, owner of Latif Builders, one of the contractors, said they received several road renovation work orders in the tender and started the work, but had to stop due to lack of security in the current situation.

"We decided to observe the situation for a few days before resuming the work," he added.

Contacted, Israil Hossain, chief executive officer of BCC, said they were aware of the matter.

"A decision has been taken to speed up implementation of the ongoing development projects. If someone is unable to complete his work, the remaining work will be re-tendered," he added.