Staff Correspondent: The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) yesterday approved a total of seven development projects worth Tk 3,981.90 crore including one for construction of jetty alongside necessary infrastructures at Mirsarai and Sandwip of Chattogram and Sonadia Dip and Teknaf of Cox’s Bazar.

The approval came from the 6th ECNEC meeting of the current fiscal year (FY23) with its chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

The Premier chaired the meeting physically held at the NEC Conference Room in the city’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area while ministers, state ministers, planning commission members and secretaries concerned were present.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Planning Minister MA Mannan said that the meeting approved a total of seven projects with an estimated overall cost of Tk 3,981.90 crore.

“Of the total project cost, Tk 3,392.33 crore will come from the government of Bangladesh portion, Tk 267.35 crore from the concerned organization’s own fund while the rest of Tk 322.21 crore as project assistance,” he said.

Besides, the planning minister informed that the ECNEC meeting was apprised about the timeframe extension of three development projects.

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) under the Ministry of Shipping would implement the jetty construction project with Tk 1,913.70 crore from entire government fund by June 2024.

The prime minister in the meeting asked the authorities concerned to start the work for construction of jetty at Sandwip portion on priority basis.

Planning Division Secretary Mamun-Al Rashid said that construction of a jetty at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Shilpa Nagar (BSMSN) is very much necessary and once the jetty is constructed it would facilitate the operations of foreign investors there and thus pave the way for earning revenues.

The main project operations include 25.86 acres of land acquisition, 3.95 lakh cubic meter land development, 23,488 square meter port building construction, 23,488 square meter indoor non structural finishing, 75,480.60 square meter RCC jetty construction, construction of 3,830 square meter boundary walls, 8485 square meter parking yards, 24,000 square meter link roads, 3,66,630 cubic meter excavation, construction of 5,065 square meter wooden jetty and access way, 300 meter break water and procurement of 14 naval ancillary equipments.

Once the project is implemented, it would reduce travel time and transportation cost among South-Eastern Cox’s Bazar, Teknaf, Kutubdia with other South-Western districts of the country.

The other projects approved in the meeting are: Development of affected road infrastructures and service packages of Zone 2 and Zone 4 under Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) with Tk 963.30 crore, Development of electrical equipments and safety measures at Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban area with Tk 92.17 crore, Baroiarhat-Heyako-Ramgarh road widening project, 1st revised with an additional cost of Tk 261.59 crore, Development of Nabinagar-Ashuganj road with an additional cost of Tk 183.41 crore, Sustainable agricultural development at Dinajpur region with Tk 65.32 crore and Extension and strengthening of power transmission system at Chattogram region, 1st revised with an additional cost of Tk 502.41 crore.