Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Thursday said the Roads and Highways Department collected some Tk 184.37 crore toll from the four highways in the current financial year (2023-24).
The Minister said this in response to a tabled question of Awami League MP elected from Comilla Abu Zafar Mohammad Shafi Uddin.
Of the total amount, the collection from Bangabandhu Expressway (Dhaleswari and Bhanga parts) was Tk 155.39 crore, Dhaka-Sylhet highway Tk 15.23 crore at Rustampur Toll Plaza in Habiganj, Tk 11.45 crore on Hartikamarul-Banpara road in Natore and Chittagong Port Access Road Tk 2.73 crore.
In response to a question of Noakhali-3 Constituency MP Mamunur Rashid Kiran, Obaidul Quader said tolls were collected from three bridges under the Bangladesh Bridges Authority.
The three bridges are Bangabandhu Bridge over the Jamuna River, Muktarpur Bridge over the Dhaleswari River and Padma Bridge.
Tk 811.57 crore were collected from Padma Bridge, Tk 648.87 crore from Bangabandhu Bridge and Tk 11.61 crore from Muktarpur Bridge.
In response to another question of ruling party MP elected from Noakhali Mamunur Rashid, the Minister said that a road safety project has been taken with the help of World Bank.
The estimated cost of the project is Tk 4,988 crores. Of which, the World Bank will provide Tk 3759 crore.
Meanwhile, in the afternoon British High Commissioner in Dhaka Sarah Cooke paid a courtesy call on Road Transport and Bridges Minister and Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader at Setu Bhaban in the city.
During the meeting, they discussed progress of the new government in the last six months and its future programme and priorities.
They put emphasis on practicing democracy inside political parties for implementing sustainable democracy in any country.
Obaidul Quader said AL is the country’s only political party which practices democracy at all levels in true sense and follows the country’s constitution, party’s constitution and rules and regulations of the Election Commission.
Apart from AL, there is no instance of any party in the country to make such democratic practices, he motioned.
The British high commissioner appreciated the current government’s policy stance on women empowerment and also laid emphasis on inclusion of a large number of women in electing party leadership and public reprehensive.
In this regard, the AL general secretary said the party is putting much importance on women’s participation in party’s leadership and other fields.
Quader lauded the activities of Democracy International for extending training support to political parties with the financial assistance of British government.
Sarah Cooke assured of extending all-out support from Democracy International to enhance capabilities of political parties in Bangladesh.
AL Information and Research Secretary Dr Selim Mahmud and Office Secretary Barrister Biplab Barua were present during the meeting.
