Opening delayed again

The construction of the much-awaited Kazirbazar Bridge over the Surma river which again remained suspended for last two months cannot be completed before next March even though the deadline was December 2014, said roads and highways officials.

The construction will resume in a week or two soon after the food and railway departments remove their depot and quarter, informed Iftekhar Kabir, additional chief engineer of Roads & Highways, Sylhet zone, after Road Transportation and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader visited the under-construction bridge yesterday.

The construction, which remained incomplete even after eight years against the target of two years due to repeated revisions in the project, delay in land acquisition, unavailability of funds, and a lack of coordination among the relevant government agencies, resumed in full swing in this March.

But the finance minister on September 25 ordered to stop the construction after locals, including businessmen, met him to discuss their problems rising as the bridge approach roads have become narrow due to the construction.