PM opens first flyover of port city tomorrow

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina tomorrow will open Chittagong's first flyover that is supposed to significantly make easy the movement of cargo-carrying vehicles to and from the port.
She will inaugurate the flyover from a ceremonial occasion at the port around 10:00am.
Besides this, the prime minister will inaugurate four other projects -- three power plants and a new building of the LGED, and will lay foundation stone of a dormitory complex for female garment workers and a Buddhist monastery.
Construction of the 1.42 kilometre flyover was complete in December last year at a cost of Tk 82 crore under Chittagong Port Trade Facilitation Project. The beautification works were finished recently, said Project Manager Arun Alo Chakma of Roads and Highways Department.
The work order of the flyover -- jointly financed by the government and the Asian Development Bank -- was given on May 15, 2008. It was scheduled to be complete within 20 months, but the time frame was extended several times until December 2011.
The flyover starts from the Port Access Road and ends at the connecting point of the port's two container terminals -- New Mooring Container Terminal and Chittagong Container terminal.
The Port Access Road stretches from Customs Bridge near Chittagong Port and ends at Dhaka-Chittagong highway at Fouzderhat point.
Using the flyover, the heavy container carriers and trucks would now be able to easily ply between the port and the highway bypassing the city heart, said Syed Farhad Uddin Ahmed, secretary of Chittagong Port Authority.
He hopes that the flyover would reduce congestion in the port and enhanced the port's efficiency.
Project Manager Arun Chakma said besides the port-related vehicles, goods-laden trucks and public transports too would use the flyover. It would significantly lessen traffic congestions on Airport Road and Port Connecting Road as well.
The prime minister is expected to inaugurate three new power plants, each having 100MW capacity. The plants have been installed at a cost of Tk 2,700 crore and are already in production.
With these, the number of power plants including the private ones stands at 10 in Chittagong.
Hasina would inaugurate the plants from the grand rally at Pologround, Power Development Board (PDB) officials said.
Funded by the government, the plants in Hathazari and Dohazari use heavy fuel oil (HFO) and gas, while the other in Julda has been constructed under private initiative.
Project Director of the Dohazari plant Swapan Kanti Das said the plant began generation in October last year.
Shafiqual Islam, project director of the Hathazari station, said the plant has been supplying electricity to the national grid since the middle of December.
Sunil Kanti Das, project director of the Julda plant, said the plant in Patiya upazila is run by HFO. It started generation on February 21 this year.
The premier will also inaugurate the ten-storey LGED building in Muradpur area in the morning.
She is scheduled to lay the foundation stone of five six-storey dormitory buildings at Saltgola Crossing near the Chittagong EPZ. The 2.03 acre complex would accommodate over 4,000 female workers. Chittagong Development Authority will implement the project worth Tk 92 crore.
Project Director Mohammad Ilias said, after the construction work is done, the dormitories would be handed over to BGMEA.
Hasina is set to lay the foundation of a ten-storey Buddhist Monastery in Nandankanon area. The Tk 10-crore building project would replace the existing age-old two-storey monastery.