Dhaka-Chittagong highway
The cancellation of a project related to an upgrading of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway into a four-lane road for the second time in fifteen months is proof of how bureaucracy often stymies development. The Ministry of Communications and the Roads and Highways Department, unable to see eye to eye on the matter, have now together created a situation where the issue of a tender has effectively put a stop to the upgradation plan, at least for now. That is indeed most sordid business. And it becomes pathetic when a whole plan falters around the question of a so-called performance guarantee being shortened from 28 days to seven days. At this point, there is a clear picture of how officials are blaming one another over the issue, with the ministry claiming that the time slash was a gross violation of the Public Procurement Regulation (PPR) 2008.
What is obvious here is that the public interest is being given short shrift through the pointless debate between the ministry and the department. And the public interest is clearly one that would have the upgradation or expansion of the highway undertaken and completed as early as possible. There is little question that the project carries enormous significance; and it does so because of the increasingly high road traffic all over the country and especially on the highways. Anyone who has recently made use of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway cannot have failed to spot the pressure the road is subjected to seven days of the week. With the number of vehicles increasing in geometric progression and business and other activities going through rapid expansion, it is only to be understood that the nature of our roads and highways needs to change in order to accommodate such growing traffic and cater to other demands. Besides, there remains a paramount need to check the high number of accidents occurring on our by now narrow highways. An overarching requirement for a four-lane highway on the Dhaka-Chittagong route is therefore an incontrovertible argument.
It will be in the public interest to have the dispute between the Ministry of Communications and the Roads and Highways Department come to an end. All too often, good ideas have been left to gather dust owing to the bureaucratic roadblocks put up by government departments. Such patterns of behaviour inexorably lead to cost escalation and, eventually, to results that leave people feeling let down. Let heads be put together and ways be devised to ensure a smooth implementation of the highway project in question.
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