General Secretary of Kumarkhali Upazila Awami League and mayor of the municipality, Samsuzzaman Arun stopped the renovation work of the Kushtia-Rajbari regional highway, protesting the wastage of government money in the name of repeated reforms. He said he wants “a permanent solution.”
He went to the roundabout area, which is adjacent to the Kumarkhali bus stand on the highway, at around 10 am on Thursday (June 8) and stopped the renovation work.
It is known that Zahurul Islam Construction, the contractor of the Meherpur district, was given the task of constructing the regional highway at a cost of Tk 190 crore. Ever since the construction work started, various irregularities have been noticed in the road work. At that time, there was criticism from different quarters about it. After the completion of the construction work, cracks started appearing in some places.
In this situation, the road was reconstructed in 2018. The contractor completed the first renovation work in June 2020, when the road was ready. In June 2021, the parts which had problems were renovated. In 2022, several narrow canals and holes were formed in the same place and it was renovated. The last renovation work was done on May 4. Even now the same places are having problems such as bending damage and it is causing problems in public transportation.
Mayor Samsuzzaman Arun said that “The road is going to be built in the same place again and again, and the road department is renovating it. This is a waste of government money. Again and again, public suffering is created. This time too, the renovation work was going on. I have stopped this work for a permanent solution.”
Mohammad Salim Azad Khan, the executive engineer of Kushtia Road and township department, said that “To avoid risk and keep the traffic normal, we started the repair work of the parts that were damaged from Thursday morning. But I don't understand why the mayor has stopped working. I have sent officials to coordinate with the mayor.”
Regarding the permanent solution, the engineer also said, “I have prepared all the necessary for the permanent solution. Now it's time to call for tenders.”