TUHIN SHUBHRA ADHIKARY

The World Bank in March last year approved a loan for the biggest road safety project in Bangladesh. The loan contract with Bangladesh authorities has to be signed within one and a half years of the approval, or else, the loan would be cancelled, said officials.

One year has already gone by, but the project has not been approved yet, a pre-condition for signing the loan deal, rising concern over the fate of the project’s funding, they said.

The Tk 4,988.14 crore project now has to get the nod within three or four months by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council, because it takes some time to issue office order regarding the approval, they added.

After changes in the Development Project Proposal, the Roads and Highways Department, the lead implementing agency of the project, re-submitted it to the Road Transport and Highways Division on Sunday.

RHD sources said WB already wrote to the authorities concerned to complete the DPP approval process quickly.

Any project, after submission of the DPP by the implementing agency concerned, usually goes through a lengthy process that include several meetings involving different agencies. It takes quite a long time. So, the fate of the project depends how quickly the process will be completed and how fast the Ecnec approves it, the officials said.

The deadline for the project is June 2028.

The project is getting delayed when road safety issue has become a major concern as thousands of people are getting killed or maimed every year. The issue came to the fore again after a bus, which had no fitness clearance, veered off the Dhaka-Bhanga expressway and crashed, killing 19 people last month.

Contacted, Road Transport and Highways Division Secretary ABM Amin Ullah Nuri said the project proposal is now with the Planning Commission and its approval is expected soon.

In reply to a query, he told The Daily Star last night, “There is no risk over getting the fund. The project will be approved within the timeline.”