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4 years ago

Chinese builder complains of blocked highway

Padma rail link project

File photo used for representational purpose
File photo used for representational purpose

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The Chinese contractor of the Padma bridge rail link project has raised complain about its difficulties to transport building materials at the construction site as national highways have remained blocked since June 11.

A statement issued on Thursday said dozens of local suppliers and subcontractors of the project are suffering due to the blockage of the access roads.

Since June 11, the N8 highway authority has kept passage between the main road and the service road closed.

One part of the route of the project starts from Kuchimora to Bhanga and parallel to the N8 highway.

"As the main road allowing heavy vehicles to pass through is completely closed, vehicles transporting materials cannot reach the construction site through it," said the statement.

The service road that can reach the construction site is not allowing heavy-load vehicles to pass through," it added.

It also said all vehicles transporting materials for project will not be able to enter the construction site, and the construction of the section of CH25-CH81, nearly 56km long, will be forced to face a complete shutdown.

Consequently, a total of 36 local suppliers and subcontractors with their thousands of employees are suffering.

Such a suffering inflicts more harm in the current situation of the pandemic.

A coordination meeting was convened among the relevant parties to resolve this issue.

At this meeting, the contractor agreed that it will assign a sufficient number of traffic management staff, provide road-protection facilities, and carry out reparation if their trucks damage the N8 road.

But the N8 road still remains closed to the trucks carrying construction materials for the project.

Though the CSC military supervision, the N8 highway authority, Bangladesh Railways and the RHD highway management department had dialogues on this issue several times, but no consensus has been reached as yet.

The project is currently facing suspension and heavy financial loss.

This is one of the key projects, which is under construction in Bangladesh.

It is forecasted to boost the economy of Bangladesh by 1.5 per cent.

Even during the COVID-19 outbreak, the contractor, CREC (China Railway Group Limited), did not suspend construction due to the tight schedule of the project.

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