Good infrastructure key to higher growth
It will not be possible for Bangladesh to achieve seven percent GDP growth without upgrading the road network and other infrastructure, according to a World Bank report.
If Bangladesh wants to get out of the six-percent growth trap, it has to implement quickly key projects like Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Mymensingh highways, Zahid Hussain, lead economist at the WB's Dhaka office, said at the launching of Bangladesh Development Update yesterday.
He also stressed the need for quick implementation of other protects such as upgrading of Dhaka-Chittagong railway line into double track, Dhaka Metro Rail, the Padma Bridge project and two power plants at Bibiyana.
Mentioning the sorry state of highways and roads, the WB report said the main reasons behind it are “substandard work of the contractors, incessant rainfall during monsoon season, and slow pace of work on the four-lane project of Dhaka Chittagong and Dhaka-Mymensingh highways.”
And bad shape of highways is one of the key reasons behind frequent road accidents in the country, it said.
Quoting a recent survey “Road Safety in Bangladesh: Realities and Challenges” by the Roads and Highways Department, the report said 95 percent of the accidents take place within 57 km of nine national highways, making them “the most accident-prone”. There are 208 accident blackspots, listed by the RHD, where road accidents occur frequently.
It also mentioned faulty road designs as one of the few primary causes behind accidents.
As repair and maintenance are done on a temporary basis mainly with bricks, brickbats and sand, numerous potholes and cracks develop on roads because of downpour which increases the chance of accident, according to the survey.
Slow progress in completing major road projects has been a major hindrance to achieving “the desired inter-modal transport mix of the government's transport strategy”, said the report.
For instance, the RHD targeted constructing 4,672 kilometres of new roads and widening 8,433 roads by fiscal year 2015. But it could achieve only 15 and 22 percent of the targets between FY 2011 and 2013.
The condition of roads gets worse during the monsoon and Eid, as the number of home-bound people multiplies at that time. Under the RHD, there are 21,481 kilometres of national highways, regional highways and other roads. Of those, national highways constitute 3,544 kilometres.
About 41 percent of the roads and highways are in a bad shape, and 12 percent of those are in a deplorable state, full of potholes and ruts.
Of the rest, 20 percent are in a poor state while 39 percent are in decent shape, according to the RHD survey conducted in December last year.
The WB report said the RHD has been provided with Tk 14 billion from the FY 2015 budget for repair, maintenance and rehabilitation work of the roads and highways, compared to Tk 13.38 billion in FY 2014.
“Despite large government allocations every year, the quality of construction of roads and highways and their maintenance remain neglected.”
Any unsustainable short-term solution for road safety is not only a death-trap for commuters but also an exercise in wasteful spending, it said.
A year-long action plan for maintenance and repair of roads and highways, regular updating of the list of accident blackspots and priority action plans for improvement deserve attention from the policymakers, the report added.
Zahid Hussain said infrastructure investment increased from less than 1 percent of the gross domestic product (GDP) in FY 2009 to about 2 percent in FY 2013. But it is still considerably lower than the 7-10 percent needed annually for the next 10 years.
Energy and transport are key pillars of infrastructure. Bangladesh has made progress in improving its competitiveness ratings, most visibly in electricity supply, he said.
However, comparison of infrastructure indicators among Asian nations show Bangladesh is still deficient in terms of the quality of infrastructure compared with other Asian countries except for Myanmar.
Even Pakistan, which ranks below Bangladesh in country competitiveness, is ahead of Bangladesh in the quality of roads and port infrastructure, said the WB economist.
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