DHAKA, Jan 13, 2019 (BSS) – The Government and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) today signed agreements for US$200 million in loans to improve the rural road network across the country.
Economic Relations Division (ERD) Secretary Monowar Ahmed and ADB Country Director Manmohan Parkash signed the agreements on behalf their respective sides at a function at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) in the city, said a release.
Speaking on the occasion, Manmohan Parkash said the assistance supports the government’s priority of delivering urban services in rural areas by increasing connectivity, providing greater access to social services and markets, and promoting the agriculture sector, benefiting over 51.5 million people.
“It will also improve transport efficiency, generate 3.13 million person-days employment, introduce high-level technology to enhance road master planning, and create road safety awareness among rural population,” he added.
The assistance will support the government’s Rural Connectivity Improvement Project (RCIP) to upgrade about 1,700 kilometers of rural roads to all-weather standards in 34 districts located in five divisions.
The project will also improve the capacity of the rural infrastructure agency for rural road development; and enhance rural road master planning to enable the selection of priority rural roads for improvement using a geographic information system (GIS) covering the entire country. The GIS technology will help identify agricultural value chains, road conditions, and mechanisms for allocating priorities, optimizing the use of available resources for effective rural road network planning and improvement.
The roads will be designed with safety features, including signage, guard posts, and speed breakers. They will also adopt climate resilient designs incorporating features such as elevated paving, drainage, road foundations, and earthworks to significantly reduce maintenance.
The roads will be covered under contractual maintenance for 5 years after the date of construction on a pilot basis. Selection of roads takes into consideration factors such as population size, agricultural potential, the number of farms and commercial establishments, and economic potential. The project also prioritizes repair of roads damaged by flashfloods in 2017.
The project will provide training to the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) on road and financial management, road safety, climate resilient design and construction, improving road users’ awareness, and enhancing women’s skills on road construction and maintenance.
An ADB technical assistance grant of $1 million will support these activities. Over 2,400 women were consulted in the project area during project design and they appreciated that it will give them more access to economic opportunities and services.
Only about 40 percent of the rural population in Bangladesh has access to all-weather roads, and these roads make up only 28 percent of the total length of rural roads in the country. Guided by the Seventh Five Year Plan, the government has embarked on an effort to improve the country’s rural road network, aiming to increase the percentage of rural roads classified as good from 43 percent in 2016 to 80 percent in 2020.
The total cost of the project, which is due for completion in November 2023, is $285.31 million. ADB will provide a concessional loan of $100 million and a regular loan of $100 million. The government will provide the remaining $85.31 million.