PM orders probe into Khulna Shipyard project delay

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has ordered an investigation into why the Khulna Shipyard road development project remains incomplete nearly 13 years after receiving approval.

He issued the directive at an Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) meeting at the Secretariat.

On Tuesday, Tarique's Press Secretary Saleh Shibly said the premier had sought a probe into the causes behind the prolonged delay in implementing the project.

The Khulna Shipyard Road Widening and Improvement Project was approved by ECNEC in July 2013. Work on the scheme, however, began only on Jan 22, 2022. More than three-and-a-half years later, around 70 percent of the work has been completed.

The contract was cancelled on Aug 7 last year. The delay in implementing the project came up for discussion at the ECNEC meeting, where the prime minister sought an investigation into the reasons behind it.

Asked about the matter, Press Secretary Shibly said: "The project's tenure has been extended several times. The prime minister has directed an investigation into why the intended objectives were not achieved and asked that action be taken against those responsible."

The contract for the project was awarded to Ataur Rahman Limited and Mahabub Brothers Private Limited.

Implemented by the Khulna Development Authority, the two-year project was initially estimated to cost Tk 989 million.

The work was supposed to be completed by June 2015, but the implementing agency failed to begin construction within the scheduled timeframe.

The deadline was first extended by one year and then by two more years, setting a revised completion target in 2018.

When that target was also missed, the project received a further one-year extension, followed by a three-year extension under its first revision, then two years, six months, and another six months. The seventh extension expired in June 2025.

By then, physical progress had reached only 70 percent. To complete the remaining work, the deadline was extended for an eighth time until December last year.

A project originally designed to be completed in two years has now stretched close to a dozen years. Its cost has also risen repeatedly. The budget was first increased by Tk 280 million and later by another Tk 1.32 billion.

As a result, the project's estimated cost climbed from Tk 989 million to Tk 2.59 billion before being revised down slightly to Tk 2.54 billion.