Ministers blast
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18 percent. Unless overloading is controlled, roads’ life expectancy cannot be increased.
He also mentioned manpower shortage and the soil of the country as major reasons behind short life of roads.
On maintenance, he said they receive only 15 to 20 percent of the money required for road maintenance every year. The RHD got Tk 2,228.91 crore against a demand of Tk 11,884 crore in 2018-19 fiscal for maintenance.
Blaming overloading for damage to roads and bridges, transport expert Prof Shamsul Haque said the government gave into the pressure of transport organisations and allowed overloading.
The government allows two-axle vehicles (six wheels) to carry up to 22 tonnes, instead of global standard of 15.5 tonnes, he said.
Besides, illegally modified trucks and lorries, mainly responsible for overloading, get fitness clearances.
Stopping overloading, ensuring proper drainage system, and introduction of performance-based road management system could help guarantee longevity of roads and bridges.
Ex RHD chief engineer Ebne Alam Hasan also blamed overloading for roads getting damaged sooner than they should. He called for giving more priority on maintenance.
State Minister Nasrul Hamid started with showing some photos of roads in his Keraniganj constituency. The photos showed an overpass without a necessary ramp, a bridge where tolls are collected haphazardly, and buses stopping in the middle of the road.
He claimed that there were no signs on most roads, including Mayor Hanif Flyover.
“What are you doing?”
There are faults in road design which could have been avoided if the officials involved worked sincerely, he said.
“The issues you have mentioned as challenges are not actually challenges. We are the main challenges,” he said hinting at RHD officials.
“Things will not change even if the budget was doubled,” he said.
Nasrul showed the photo of a pillar of a bridge that had blocked water flow of Shubhadda canal.
When an RHD official said they had stopped building bridges over the canal following the state minister’s objection, Nasrul said what they had done before was a waste of public money.
He also questioned the services and fitness clearances given by the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority. He showed photos of the BRTA office in his area where brokers were present.
RHD officials then tried to respond to Nasrul.
Finance Minister Mustafa said, “What we are discussing today has been discussed several times before ... We know everything but we don’t follow.”
The prime minister gave directives on several occasions and it seems she is tired of this now, he said.
He said he gets criticised for the poor road condition in his Cumilla constituency.
“You’ll start crying if you see the roads in my constituency. People curse me every day. When I go there, I can’t roll down the car window [fearing contact with people] and try to drive away fast. But I can’t drive away fast since the roads are so bad.
“You get Tk 25,000 crore in every budget. But do you deliver [service] effectively? No, you don’t,” the minister said.
Roads are getting damaged due to overloading and modification of vehicles, he said, adding, “We will stop giving allocation and approval to new projects. Please cooperate with us.”
He blasted RHD engineers for blaming the soil and said many countries build roads under the sea and over hills and those remain useable for around 50 years.
Talking about long queues before toll plazas, the minister said he had asked the RTHD secretary at least 30 times to introduce a modern system so that there were no queues.
“I won’t conclude this meeting unless you tell me when you will do it.”
RTHD Secretary Nazrul then said they introduced a modern system at Meghna-Gumti toll plaza.
Mustafa asked them to ensure quality instead of increasing the number of projects. “If necessary, do not start work on new projects until you have finished the ones you started before.”
Road safety campaigners, experts, transport leaders, officials from ministries also spoke at the seminar.