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Economic return from Jamuna bridge to cross WB estimates
Economic return from the proposed Jamuna bridge has been found to be much higher than World Bank estimates in the latest reassessment, brightening prospect of the project, reports UNB.
Officials said Saturday the latest assessment got a positive appraisal from the focal mission chief of World Bank at a governmcnt-WB meeting here Thursday.
The reassessment of Internal Rale of Return (IRR) from the bridge will be put up at the crucial World Bank .meeting at tts headquarters next month where the bank will take Anal decision on the project, they said.
The fresh assessment by a group of local experts had revealed a "significant underestimation" of the freight forecast in the World Bank-appointed consultants' report prepared in 1989.
IRR from the Jamuna bridge would be at least by ' 1 -2 percentage points" above the bank estimates in the year 2000 if the impact of the bridge on agricultural production in the northwest of Jamuna and its marketing, are fully taken into account, according to the reassessment.
Higher economic returns were found to be possible from both the high and low-freight scenarios assessed on the basis of crop intensity and diversity to be Induced in the western side by the bridge construction.
In the three-crop high-freight scenario, the local experts assessed generation of an additional 13,28,000 metric tons of freight a year across the bridge from the northwestern part to the eastern part over the volume esti-matc^ by the World Bank.
Even in the low-freight scenario of two crops, the volume of additional freight would be around 8,21,000 metric tons.
The underestimation of World Bank was because, the home experts argued, the bank consultants had not fully taken into account boost in production of other agricultural commodities apart from cereal in the northwest region
Officials expect the latest revelation of improved IRR will provide the government a firm basis to convince World Bank on the economic feasibility of the 530 million-dollar project.
World Bank Resident Mission Chief at the Nov 21 meeting reportedly assured that the recalculation of IRR would be taken into consideration during the forthcoming bank mceling exclusively on the Jamuna Bridge. The Washington meet on the bridge is due on December 4.
The assessment expects the much-talkcd-aboul brid* to stimulate production and marketing of perishable items as it, by providing an opportunity of quick and economic transportation, will influence the farmers in the northwest ern region to eqter high-price market In the eastern' part of the country.
Commodity pieces arc higher in the eastern part by 14 per cent for cereal and 22 per cent for vegetable and fruits compared to that of northwestern region, mainly because of separation of the countries two pats by the mighty river posing serious communication hurdles.
An optimum utilisation of land would, thus, be encouraged and production of high-quality kitchen items and fruits ’be boosted in the northern and northwestern districts, resulting in increased freight flows across the fridge, according lo the assessment .
The reassessment was done by Fauzul Kabir Khan and Zahid Hossain of the National Itoard of Revenue ( NBR) and G M Khurshid Alam of the Finance Division.