Mega infrastructure including Karnaphuli Tunnel and Metrorail should be demolished

Unnecessary mega infrastructure built with borrowed money has become a big burden on the country's economy, said Commerce Advisor Sheikh Bashir Uddin. He said that an example should be set of dismantling economically unviable projects if necessary. He said this at an event organized at the Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) auditorium in Paltan in the capital on Wednesday (June 25) afternoon.

The Commerce Advisor said that several times more money has been spent on implementing big projects like Karnaphuli Tunnel and Metrorail than the actual cost. In his words, "We have spent 20 taka instead of one taka. As a result, the huge economic liability that has arisen is consuming a large part of the national budget today. A large part of our expenditure is going to repay domestic and foreign loans, which is not sustainable at all."

He further said that tough decisions are necessary to overcome this situation. He also mentioned that he has already canceled projects worth several thousand crores of taka of his ministry. According to him, unplanned and unnecessary investments will further endanger the country's economy in the future.

The trade advisor also questioned the future of projects that are 70 to 80 percent complete. He said that a huge amount of money will be required to complete these projects, while many of them have no real economic use. "My personal opinion is to demolish such infrastructure. This will at least send a message that we can get out of the culture of keeping unnecessary projects. We have to pay the debt, but it is also important to learn from mistakes," he said.

At this time, Sheikh Bashiruddin emphasized on increasing the country's internal economic capacity rather than being overly dependent on the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He said that for sustainable economic development, we have to get out of the culture of corruption and waste. Only good governance and realistic policymaking can stabilize the country's economy in the long run.