Patuakhali town protection dam work to start soon

The finance ministry has finally disbursed Tk one crore as initial allocation for construction of Patuakhali town protection embankment, 12 years after the project was taken up.
It is now a talk of the town after a faxed message reached the Water Development Board (WDB) office here Thursday evening.
Finance AND Planning adviser Mirza Azizul Islam approved the Tk 22.29 crore project on December 26 and ordered disbursement of the initial amount on emergency basis to start work considering the massive damage in the area caused by Sidr due to lack of any protection embankment, WDB sources said.
The demand for implementation of the project was made by the local elite and the district administration during the finance adviser's recent visit to Patuakhali on November 18, just after the Sidr.
WDB executive engineer Zahir Udddin Ahmed told to this correspondent that the project work would begin as soon as possible and completed in three years. The whole cost would be funded by the government, he said.
The project was taken up in 1996.