Jamuna Bridge in jeopardy?
The most disconcerting aspect of the matter is that even after two years of the discovery of a crack in the country's most expensive and strategically important structure, the Jamuna Bridge, very little substantive action has been initiated to repair the damage.
It is also equally disheartening that the only land link, for us a marvel of sorts, which has changed the dynamics of trade, travel and commerce between the northern part of Bangladesh and the rest of the country, is at some risk.
The natural question to ask about the very sad development is how and why did this happen? It is imponderable that a strategic construction that was commissioned less than a decade ago and took almost a decade to complete has developed serious flaws that may render it useless unless prompt action is taken. This fact together with the existence of other flaws of various definitions, as reported in a local daily, demonstrates the utter lackadaisical way that maintenance work has been done in respect of the most vital and, by the same token, the most vulnerable key point installation of the country.
We fail to understand why we cannot hold the company responsible for any defect in the construction of the bridge and have it do the necessary repair work as per the provisions of the contract. What is perhaps baffling is the comment of the expert committee that was set up immediately after the crack was discovered in 2006 to look into the affair, that there are design flaws that may be responsible for the crack in the bridge.
We feel that an inordinate length of time has already been wasted in discussions and efforts to determine the responsibility for the flaws in design etc. We feel that the priority must be on repairing the bridge. By all means do everything necessary for the repair and sustained maintenance of Jamuna Bridge. Surely the party or parties responsible for the state of affairs must be identified and held to account. But the repair work must be initiated most expeditiously. It need not be restated that nine stitches may not be enough to save one of our most important assets from irreparable damage if any further delay in initiating corrective measures is brooked.
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