Bangladesh
Bangabandhu Tunnel Bangabandhu Tunnel likely to be inaugurated on Feb 24 : Quader
Dhaka, January 14: Awami League General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said that Bangabandhu Tunnel is being built under the Karnaphuli river in the port city of Chittagong. It is the first tunnel in South Asia. The construction of the tunnel is about 95.50 percent complete. The tunnel is scheduled to be inaugurated on February 24.
He said, "Once upon a time, no one thought that Bangabandhu would transform Chittagong into a city in Shanghai through the construction of the tunnel. I am hopeful that Chittagong will go much further. Chittagong will be one city to town."
He said these in an exchange meeting with journalists at the conference room of Chittagong Circuit House on Friday (January 13).
Obaidul Quader said, "There are two parts to the historic speech of the father of the nation on March 7. One part of it is freedom, the other is economic liberation. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of Bangabandhu, has taken the responsibility of giving economic freedom to the people of the country. When the World Bank turned its back on the Padma Bridge project, the major infrastructure of that liberation, the dream of the Padma Bridge was surrounded by despair. Just then, Bangabandhu's brave daughter stood in Parliament and announced the construction of Padma Bridge with the country's money. That Padma Bridge today is not a dream, but a visible reality."
He said, "We are going through very challenging time. Russia and Ukraine war on one side and sanctions and counter-sanctions of Europe and America on the other. As a result, one-third of the world's countries are now heading towards the Great Depression, according to the IMF. The cost of living in Europe has broken 40-year records. With our neighboring country Sri Lanka's reserves at the bottom, Pakistan's reserves are also in critical condition. There is no doubt that the prices of all things including fuel oil have increased in our country. However, due to the visionary leadership of the Prime Minister, Bangladesh's reserve position is still good considering the global situation."
Expressing hope, he said, "The reserve of a developing country like Bangladesh is now 34 billion dollars. The country still has reserves to import for 5 months. There is a strong glimpse into the ongoing trend of the country's economy. In the future, the per capita income and GDP of the people of the country will increase."
