The current government has increased the cost of the deep sea port project undertaken by the Awami League by Tk 6,573 crore.
Almost all media outlets covered the news of the increase in the cost of the Matabaradi deep sea port by Tk 6,573 crore.
The cost of this deep sea port project, taken up by the Awami League government, was initially estimated at Tk 17,777.20 crore, with a duration set until December 31, 2026. In the first amendment, the cost of the project was slightly increased to Tk 17,807 crore.
The Yunus government is now going to implement the project at a cost of Tk 24,381 crore, increasing the cost by about 37 percent. The project period has also been extended by three years. They want to complete it by December 31, 2029.
It doesn't end here, the cost has also been increased for the Elenga-Hatikamrul-Rangpur highway upgrade project to four lanes in Tangail.
The Awami League government had last fixed the cost of this project at 18,679 crore taka. The interim government has increased it by 376 crore 99 lakh taka. According to the new decision, the project will be implemented at 19,560 crore taka.
Advisor Wahiduddin Mahmud could not explain why the cost increased. In the briefing, he said that the reason for the cost increase is 'technical' and that he is not completely 'informed' about it. An increase in cost of 6.5 billion taka or 37 percent in a project is undoubtedly a big event. But only a handful of news media have made headlines about it. Among the major media, only bdnews24.com.
The Daily Star headlined 'Matarbari Deep-sea Port: Interim govt to continue the Japan-funded project: planning adviser', meaning the interim government will take forward the work of the Japanese-funded Matarbari deep-sea port. Although the information about the cost increase is in this news, it is completely hidden. And the Daily Star Bangla did not broadcast this news. TBS's headline was 'ECNEC approves 4 projects worth 24,413 crore taka'. This too did not contain the information about the cost increase. The news could not be found in Samakale. Kaler Kantho's headline was reduced to 'ECNEC approves four projects worth 24,412 crore taka'. In this, the issue of cost increase is presented at the very bottom without any importance.
The headline of the Banik Barta is 'Corruption has reduced somewhat, but extortion has not'. There is nothing about cost increases or projects in the news. The last line reads, 'Earlier, the government approved four projects in the ECNEC meeting. And the duration of seven projects was extended.'
Source: https://bangla.bdnews24.com/economy/1f9c458de748
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