There are 980 employees from China. Among them, 332 are now in China. Thirty-three of them have returned.
“Eight of them have been released from quarantine and the rest are being quarantined,” the minister said at a press briefing at the secretariat.
He said the overall progress of the bridge’s work is 75 percent while 86 percent of the main work is complete. Twenty-three spans have been installed and the 24th will be installed on February 10.
While highlighting the progress of works on the projects under the ministry, Quader said the Prime Minister is likely to inaugurate Dhaka-Mawa Expressway next month.
He said there has been 42 percent progress in metro rail construction work and it will be completed by 2021.
Road, Transport and Bridges minister Obaidul Quader speaks at a press briefing at the secretariat on Wednesday, Feb 5, 2020. Photo: UNB
A total 58 Chinese citizens are involved with the construction work. Among them, 31 citizens are now in China and one Chinese citizen, who has come back, is now in quarantine which will not impact the project work.
There is 55 percent progress in the elevated express way work. There are 38 Chinese citizens involved in the construction work. Among them, 18 are now on leave, said Quader.
The minister said Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) has taken an initiative to collect 4 lakh interim licence cards and a tender process is underway to collect and sell card. Fitness certificates for private vehicles will be issued once in two years instead of one year and those will be given from districts.
He said the four-lane work on Gazipur-Tangail highway under SASEC will complete by June next.
Besides, the minister said, the progress of work on the Karnaphuli Tunnel is so far 51, while the ADP implementation rate is 33 percent as of January.
Qauder said a meeting of BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal) will be held from February 8-9 in India and Bhutan will not attend the meeting.
All the running projects under the ministry, the minister said, will be completed before upcoming monsoon.
The novel coronavirus was first detected in China’s Wuhan city in December.
Deaths from the virus rose to 490 in mainland China on Wednesday while new cases on a Japanese cruise ship, in Hong Kong and in Thailand showed the increasing spread of the virus and renewed attention towards containing it.