C T Online Desk: The opposition politicians are happy with the completion of the Padma Bridge project, noting that the mega project will transform the country’s economy, particularly the lives and livelihoods of people in the country’s southwestern region.
“On behalf of the people from the southern region, my heartiest gratitude to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for completing the construction of Padma bridge,” former Jatiya Party lawmaker of Potuakhali constituency-1 ABM Ruhul Amin Howlader, also co-chairman of the party told the Daily Sun.
He said this bridge will play a vital role in the socio-economic development of the people of the southwestern region, improve living standards and bring remarkable development to the entire country.
According to the experts, Bangladesh’s economy will get a huge boost with the expected industrial revolution in 21 southwestern districts after the inauguration of the Padma Multi-Purpose Bridge.
The bridge, which is expected to open to traffic sometime on June 25, has created a high hope that the bridge will initiate an industrial revolution in the southwestern districts.
“We thank the Prime Minister for implementing the Padma Bridge project. It will change the fate of people in the region through economic development,” Nasreen Jahan Ratna, MP of Jatiya Party from Barishal-6 Constituency, told the Daily Sun.
Nasreen Jahan Ratna, also a praesidium member of the Jatiya Party, said people of the southwestern region will benefit from the Padma Bridge project as the agricultural sector will be developed and an industrial revolution will take place once the bridge opens to the public.
BNP’s Barishal city mayoral candidate Majibar Rahman Sarwar, also the party’s joint secretary-general, said the Padma Bridge was a demand of the people of 21 southwestern districts.
“The Padma Bridge is a huge achievement for the country. It will improve the country’s communication infrastructure and the socio-economic condition of the people in the country’s southwestern region,” he added.
Tataur Rahman Momtazi, senior vice president of Bhola district unit of Islami Andolon Bangladesh, said “Padma bridge will connect the country’s southwestern region people with other parts of the country including the capital.”
Talking to the Daily Sun, Mijanur Rahman Babu, president of the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB) Khulna city unit, termed the Padma Bridge a dream project for the people of the southwestern region.
“It is a reflection of our expectations. This bridge will play a vital role in the socio-economic development of the people in 21 districts,” he said.
Mijanur Rahman also demanded to reduce the toll tariff of the Padma Bridge.
Golam Mohsin, president of Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD-Inu), told the Daily Sun that the people of the southern region will be benefited immensely once the Padma Bridge opens.
Experts said Padma Bridge will connect many of the South and Southeast Asian countries and contribute immensely to communication, trade, industry, tourism and many others.
However, BNP leaders including its chairperson Khaleda Zia several times had said the incumbent Awami League government will not be able to complete the construction of the Padma bridge project.
BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in 2011 had expressed his doubts about the prime minister’s plan to execute the Padma bridge project under Public-Private Partnership (PPP).
However, after completing the construction of the Padma bridge project, many BNP leaders from the southwestern region have expressed satisfaction over the completion of the mega project.
