Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday told the Parliament that implementation of the mega projects won’t be affected as those were taken through proper assessments.
“There is no possibility of adverse impact on the execution of mega projects as appropriate financial and economic analyses were carried out before taking those. And this is why it would be possible to continue the projects,” she said.
The Premier made this remark while replying to a starred question of Jatiya Party lawmaker Fakhrul Imam from Mymensingh-8.
Sheikh Hasina said most of the mega projects are being implemented involving the foreign loans or grants, which are soft loans with comparatively very low interest rate and long repayment tenure with long grace period.
Moreover, no major complexity was noticed in the case of releasing the loan funds by the development agencies, she added.
The Prime Minister elaborated in details about the implementation progress and current status of 16 mega projects, including Padma Multipurpose Bridge Construction Project, Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant and Rampal 1320-megawatt friendship super thermal power project.
The other projects are Matarbari 1200-megawatt Ultra super critical coal-fired power project, Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development, LNG Terminal Construction and Gas Pipeline Installation Project, Payra Deep Sea Port, Padma Bridge Rail Link Project, and Construction of Single Line Dual Gauge Track from Dohajari to Cox’s Bazar via Ramu, from Ramu to Gundum, close to Myanmar.
The remaining mega projects include Payra Thermal Power Plant, Construction of Broad-gauge rail line from Bhanga Junction (Faridpur) to Payra port and Kuakata via Barishal, Cox’s Bazar Airport Development Project, Establishment of Economic Zones, Ashrayan-2 Project, Multi- Lane Road tunnel under Karnaphuli River and SASEC Dhaka-Sylhet Corridor Road Development Project.
She mentioned that huge employment opportunities have been generated along with many backward and forward linkage industries and businesses during the implementation of the projects.
She added “So, actually the country’s progress is getting accelerated directly instead of getting hindered through the projects.”
Sheikh Hasina went on saying that “Besides, since the projects (except Padma Multipurpose Bridge Construction and Payra Deep Sea Port Project) are getting finance from foreign sources, the project related import cost would not put any adverse impact on the balance of foreign currencies in the country.”
She said the projects are being undertaken as per the need to continue the trend of the country’s development in economic, social and all other sectors.
