The construction cost of per kilometer railway on Dhaka-Payra route stands at Tk 250 crore due to massive corruption, Nagorik Oikyo, a civil society platform, alleged today.

“It usually takes Tk 12 crore to Tk 30 crore to construct per kilometer railway all over the world,  while in Bangladesh cost of similar construction works stands at Tk 250 crore due to massive corruption,” Mahmudur Rahman Manna, convener  of the platform, alleged.

The expenditure for construction works of per kilometer of bridge, road, flyover and elevated expressway is four to five times higher in Bangladesh than in any other country in the world which can be explained by nothing but a looting spree of public money, he said. 

Manna came up with these allegations while launching a “campaign against state corruption” at the Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka this afternoon.

Manna said they want to make people aware of such state-sponsored corruption through providing correct information on different mass and social media including Facebook.

Citing the Global Financial Integrity report on money laundering from Bangladesh between 2005 and 2014, Manna said it can be assumed that around Tk 1 lakh crore is being laundered every year from the country now.

In a power-point presentation, Manna said corruption worth of Tk 75,000 takes place per year in Bangladesh.

He said the 6.15km long under-construction Padma Bridge has already cost Tk 40,000 crore while 9.15km Bhupen Hajarika Bridge in India cost only Tk 1,150 crore.

Asked about the source of information, Manna told The Daily Star that a research team of Nagorik Oikyo prepared the presentation based on newspapers and websites of different news portals.  

Pointing to corruption in Padma Bridge construction works, Manna said per kilometer construction cost of the bridge now stands at Tk 6,500 crore while it is Tk 500 to 700 crore for a bridge in India, China, Malaysia and Brunei.

About the corruption in elevated expressway, he said: “Construction cost of per kilometer elevated expressway in Bangladesh [Dhaka-Ashulia] stands at Tk 700 crore while the cost is Tk 250 crore in India, China, Malaysia and Hong Kong. In Vietnam the cost is Tk 205 crore.”

About the flyover, he said construction cost of per kilometer flyover in Bangladesh is Tk 150 crore to Tk 180 crore. In India, the cost is Tk 48 crore to Tk 88 crore while in China and Malaysia it is Tk 80 crore to Tk 90 crore, he added.

Pointing to corruption in railways, he said construction cost of per kilometer railway in the country is Tk 250 crore [Dhaka-Payra Port], Tk 203 crore [Dhaka-Jessore] and Tk 139 crore [Dohajari-Ghundum].

However, in China and India the cost is Tk 12 crore, in Pakistan Tk 15 in Europe or in America the cost is Tk 30 crore, he added.

Construction cost of per kilometer four-lane new road in the country is Tk 59 crore on average. For Dhaka-Mawa-Bhanga the cost stands at Tk 95 crore. In Europe the cost is Tk 28 crore, in India Tk 10 crore, and in China the cost is Tk 13 crore, Manna also said.

He further said that capital cost of per megawatt power production in Rooppur Power Plant will be US $5 million. In India the cost is US $3 million in Kudankulam Power Plant constructed by Russia.

Manna said a job seeker usually needs to give bribe of Tk 7 lakh to Tk 8 lakh to get a normal public job.

Political leaders and distinguished personalities including Gonoshasthaya Kendra Founder Zafrullah Chowdhury, BNP leaders Khairul Kabir Khokon and Shama Obaid, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Rob) General Secretary Abdul Malek Ratan, Dhaka Dialogue President Rieta Rahman, also spoke in the programme among others.