Due to the delay in land acquisition, the construction work on the Jhenaidah-Jashore highway six-lane upgrade project is progressing at a snail’s pace. On the one hand, the extended period of the project is about to end, and on the other hand, public suffering on the highway has reached its peak due to the slow pace of work. The World Bank has already expressed extreme dissatisfaction with the project work.
According to sources, the land acquisition wing of the Jhenaidah District Commissioner has already acquired 45 percent of the land in Kaliganj area and about 50 percent in Jhenaidah Sadar area for the implementation of the project. The district administration has handed over the acquired land to the Western Economic Corridor (WECARE) project authority.
It is learned that six departments of the government were involved in the land acquisition. Due to the lack of coordination among these six departments, there was a delay in preparing the survey and inspection reports. As a result, the land acquisition was slow. On November 24, 2020, this six-lane project under the Western Economic Corridor (WECARE) Phase-1 was approved in a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council ECNEC. At that time, the project cost was estimated at Tk 4,187 crore. The project was to be implemented by the Department of Roads and Highways. A plan was adopted to acquire a total of 304 acres of land under Lots 1,2,3 of Jessore and Jhenaidah. Of which 90 acres in Jessore and 214 acres in Jhenaidah.
In the latest amendment proposal sent to the Planning Commission in June 2024 by the Roads and Highways Department, the cost has increased by Tk 2,913 crore to Tk 7,100 crore. Apart from land acquisition, the proposed project mentioned an increase in rehabilitation cost of Tk 104 crore and consultancy cost of Tk 37 crore. As a result, the cost of constructing a six-lane road per kilometer in the latest proposed project has risen to over Tk 146 crore. Jhenaidah Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Subir Kumar Das said that the land acquisition work will exceed 60 percent within three weeks. The acquisition work is going on at a fast pace.
When asked about the slow pace of work, Deputy Project Manager-1 of Western Economic Corridor (WECC) Phase-1, Nilon Ali, said, “Earlier, the contracting company could not start work on time due to the slow pace of land acquisition. We acquired several pieces of land in March and July. As a result, the work is now progressing at a fast pace.” Project Manager of Phase-2 and 3, Engineer Tuhin Al Mamun, said, “It is not possible to complete the work by December this year.”
Even after getting the land from the district administration, only two percent of the work has been done so far due to the negligence of the contractor. He claimed that despite repeated urgings and letters to the contractor company to speed up the work, they are not paying any attention. World Bank Division Director John Pem and Operation Manager Gail Martin have expressed extreme dissatisfaction after visiting the project area due to the lack of progress in the latest work. They visited Jhenaidah on July 19 and inspected the project area on the spot. During their visit to Jhenaidah, they told media personnel that the project period is ending next December. They said that a decision will be taken in the next meeting of the World Bank whether the project period will be extended or not.
