Govt will remain, but collapse of 32 parties’ movement inevitable: Quader

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader has said collapse of the one-point movement of BNP and 32 like-minded opposition parties is inevitable as these parties are a mismatched and hotchpotch.

Quader, who is also the Road Transport and Bridges Minister, was responding to the queries of journalists after inspecting the construction work of Dhaka Elevated Expressway in Kawla area, adjacent to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital.

Mentioning that the government will remain as it is, he said they (the new mess of 32 parties) couldn’t raise a single wave.

“Who is the leader of their movement? Will the ship run without a captain? This messy unity changes from phase to phase,” he added.

There is no guarantee of survival of this 32-party alliance, he said, adding that earlier, there were 54 parties.

“The collapse of this messy unity is inevitable,” he reiterated.

In response to another query about the arrival of the US and European Union delegations to Bangladesh, the AL general secretary said the US delegation is not coming for election-related matters.

“They are coming to know the situation of Rohingyas. And the EU delegation is coming to see how the observer team will monitor the elections,” he added.

Quader also said the country’s first elevated expressway would be launched in September this year to ease traffic congestion in the capital.

“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the first ever elevated expressway in September this year to reduce traffic congestion in Dhaka,” he said.

Quader said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the Airport-Farmgate section of the now under-construction Dhaka Elevated Expressway in September.

“Once the entire work of this expressway is completed, traffic congestion in Dhaka city will go down to a large extent. It will also have a positive impact on (the country’s) economy,” he added.

Noting that the expressway is being completed in three phases, the minister said around 97 per cent work of the first section up to city’s Banani and 54 per cent work from Banani to Maghbazar section have been completed.

On the other hand, visible work has started on the last part from Maghbazar to Kutubkhali, he added.

Quader informed that 63 per cent of the total work of the project has been completed so far.

“Once the entire project is completed, the expressway will connect the capital with the Dhaka-Chattogram highway (Kutubkhali),” he said.

The minister said about 1482 piles, 326 pile caps, 325 columns, 325 cross beams and 3,048 eye girders have been completed in the first phase of the physical work of the project.

“The progress of this physical work is 97.28 per cent,” Quader said.

The minister said 1,633 piles, 335 pile caps, 323 columns, 320 cross beams, 2,305 eye girders have been constructed in the second phase of the physical work of the project.

“The progress of this physical work is 54.22 per cent,” he added.

While replying to a query from journalists, the minister said the feasibility study is going on over the PPP project for the outer circular around the capital.

“The AL-led government is the first in the country to build Bangabandhu Tunnel, Metro Rail, Padma Bridge, and Expressway. If Awami League returns to power in the next election, other plans including the outer circular will be implemented on time,” he said.

Officials of Italian Thai Development Public Company Limited, China Shandong International Economic & Technical Cooperation Group (CSI) and Sinohydro Corporation Limited were present during the inspection of the construction work of Dhaka Elevated Expressway.