Govt to start work soon to upgrade road, rail links on Dhaka–Sylhet route: PM

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Saturday said the government will soon begin work to upgrade road and rail connectivity on the Dhaka–Sylhet route, aiming to ease travel and boost regional economic activity.

“The condition of the road to travel from Sylhet to Dhaka is so poor and it takes nearly 10 hours to travel. This suffering has been caused due to the broken condition of the road at different places,” he added.

In this connection, he said, “During the election campaign, I came here and said that if we are able to form the government, InshaAllah, we will begin the construction work of the Sylhet-Dhaka road.”

The Prime Minister said, “After forming the government, I discussed the matter with the concerned ministry and learned that when the work began, there were land acquisition problems at 11 locations where companies were to set up site offices. In addition, there are also various administrative issues.”

Noting that the concerned ministry has already taken initiatives to begin the construction work, he said, “I hope, InShaAllah, we will be able to start this work as soon as possible. And, InShaAllah, it will be completed within 2-3 years”.

Once the work is completed, the Prime Minister said, people will no longer have to suffer so much while travelling by road from Dhaka to Sylhet and from Sylhet to Dhaka.

Tarique Rahman, also ruling BNP chairman, made the remarks while addressing a civic rally on the Nagar Bhaban premises of the Sylhet City Corporation at Chandni Ghat area in the city.

Earlier, he inaugurated a major project to enhance beautification and construction of flood protection infrastructure along both banks of the Surma River in the Chandni Ghat area around 11:30 am.

Speaking about the importance of railways over road transport, the Prime Minister said, “The more roads we continue to widen, the more vehicles will come onto the roads. Traffic will definitely increase”.

Besides, if roads are built, agricultural land will also be destroyed, he said, adding, “Therefore, we will definitely improve roads and communication systems, but we want to develop the railway system. You will surely be interested if the railway system between Dhaka and Sylhet is improved”.

Noting that an initiative has been taken to establish a double line on the Sylhet-Dhaka railway route, Tarique Rahman said, work on this will begin soon.

“As a result, we will be able to travel at lower cost. Simultaneously, business people will also be able to transport their goods at lower cost,” he added.

About improving healthcare services in rural areas, the Prime Minister said that initiatives have been taken to build a healthcare system in the country following the model of the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS).

“Although people in the cities receive healthcare services, people in the villages are deprived of complete healthcare services. We (hope) we would be able to reduce the number of sick people through creating awareness (among the people about their health),” he said.

“To this end, the government has decided to recruit 100,000 health workers across the country, nearly 80 percent of whom will be women. These health workers will go to the doorsteps of the marginal people across the country and provide health awareness advice to them,” the premier continued.

He also said that steps are being taken to quickly launch a 250-bed hospital under Sylhet Medical College, which will later be upgraded to 1,200 beds.

About development of industries, the Prime Minister said industries and factories will be further expanded in Sylhet.

At the same time, he said, new employment opportunities will also be created in the IT sector here.