Mega projects to make Cox‍‍`s Bazar a perfect tourist city

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Cox Gazette April 10, 2020, 11:17 PM

After the Awami League government came to power in 2009, several big projects started working in Cox's Bazar district and finally special initiatives were taken to implement these as priority projects of the Government. The special attention of the current government towards Cox's Bazar is building hopes for the people of this area to be an economic zone.

The ongoing mega projects are - Construction of railway line from Dohazari to Cox's Bazar and Ramu to Ghumudhum, construction of Matarbari Coal Power Plant, LNG Terminal Construction Project, Sonadia Deep Seaport Construction Project and making Cox's Bazar Airport to an International Airport and expansion, Maheshkhali-Anwara Gas Transmission Pipeline Project, Khurushkul Extensive asylum project, construction of high-tech park in Ramu, construction of sub-marine base of Navy at Pekua, Sabrang economic zone of Teknaf and 'Jallia island economic zone, setting up National Marine Research Institute in Inani, Digital Island-Maheshkhali project. As of last August, progress reports of these projects have indicated that most of the projects are in the right direction.

Single Line Dual Gauge Track from Dohazari-Ramu to Cox's Bazar to Ghumudhum: The project is being implemented at a cost of Tk 18, 034 crore with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) funding. As of August, the overall physical progress of the project has been 11 percent and financial progress has been 23.15 percent. Work has started from July 201. The deadline is set for July 2022. If the government-initiated projects for road connectivity are implemented, connectivity with different countries of South Asia will be increased, relations will also improve. There was problem with the fores department for required land which was in forest, which caused delay to start the project. Now the problem is gone and work is in full swing. The project is expected to be completed by 2022.

Matarbari Coal Electricity: This project is being constructed on 1,414 acres of land at Matarbari and Dhalghata Union of Maheshkhali. The coal-based power plant will be built on ultra-super-critical technology. The expected project cost is Tk 35, 984 crore and Japanese government will finance the project. As part of the project, the power plant and Opart Facilities of Package 1.1 have been completed. The work of Plant and Port Facilities under Package 1.2 has been increased by 20.16 percent till August. The report said that other works are in line with the work plan. Officials say the project is expected to be completed in 2023.

LNG Terminal at Maheshkhali: A Floating Storage and Registration Unit (FSRU) is floating in the Bay of Bengal near Maheshkhali. The huge ship-cum-terminal was brought from Qatar by liquefied natural gas or LNG. It converts the liquid fuel into gas and sends it to Chatoogram with a 90 km pipeline. The floating terminal arrived in Maheshkhali on April 2018. The project is being implemented with built on operating and transfer method. In addition to this, the gas pipeline construction project was also added at the 10th meeting of the FastTrack Project Monitoring Committee held recently. In addition to the construction of LNG terminal, parallel pipeline construction of Maheshkhali-Anwara gas transmission pipeline, construction of Anwara-Fouzdarhat gas circulation pipeline and construction of Chattogram-Feni-Bakhrabad gas transmission pipeline are also involved.

Sonadia deep sea port: No detail information is available about its progress. Japan's Pacific Consultant International (PCI) has completed a technical and economic study to build a deep sea port in Sonadia. Although initially it was planned to be constructed on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis, it has now been decided to build on a government-to-government (G to G) system. Several countries, including China, India and the United Kingdom, have shown initial interest. However, deep sea port construction is lagging behind.

Construction of submarine base of the Navy in Pekua: The Bangladesh Navy has acquired 333 acres of land in Magnama Mauja in Pekua upazila in order to construct a submarine base. An allotment of Tk 63 crore has already been made for land compensation and the land has been handed over to the prospecting company.

Sabrang Exclusive Tourist Zone of Teknaf: With the permission of Land Ministry and acquisition of 1139 acres of land has already been handed over to BEZA. This project will be implemented under BEZA.  BEZA has completed the feasibility evaluation process. Currently, the BWDB, LGED, RHD and Polli electrification boards have adopted plans for development activities in the applicable field. The project was inaugurated by the Prime Minister through a video conference on 28 February of 2016.

Jaliyardip Exclusive Tourist Zone of Teknaf: For the establishment of Jalliyardeip Exclusive Tourist Zone, 271 acres of land at Jaliyardip in Naf River has been handed over to Bangladesh Economic Zone Authority (BEZA). In addition, the Forest Department has approved 21.12 acres of land for use as road to Jaliaradwip Exclusive Tourist Zone. With the help of a German-based company, the project will develop a variety of entertainment mediums, including cable cars, to entertain tourists.

Ramu Pechardip National Oceanic Research Institute: Under the Ministry of Science and Information and Communication Technology, 29.5 acres of land was provided in the Pechardip Mouja area at Pechardip in Ramu upazila for setting up of National Oceanic Research Institute. The project was inaugurated by the Prime Minister after completing construction work at a cost of Tk 8075 lakh. Currently the activities of the research institute are underway.

Khurushkul shelter project: A special shelter project was undertaken on 253.35 acres of land at Khurushkul Mouza on the eastern side of the Bakkhali river to rehabilitate 4409 landless families living illegally on Government land on the west side of Cox's Bazar Airport. Initially, the work of filling the soil was done on 43 acres of land. A Sheikh Hasina tower and 149 multi-storeyed buildings will be constructed for the rehabilitation.

An AFD has been signed for the construction of a multi-storeyed Construction of the multi-storeyed building will begin shortly. In addition, Tk 200 crore was provided for the construction of link roads and bridges constructed by LGED on the Bakkhali River for the transportation of the shelter project and Tk 210 crore for the development of rehabilitation project by the Bangladesh Water Development Board. Project development work is underway.

Cox's Bazar International Airport Project: The project of upgrading Cox's Bazar Airport to International Airport was inaugurated by the Prime Minister on July 2, 2015 and the project is in progress.

The existing runway of the airport will be increased from 6775 feet to 9000 feet. 30% of the total work on this project has already been implemented. The cost of this project is Tk 1123.32 crore. These include construction of shelter projects, construction of roads and bridges, and construction of BWDB's embankments. Project development work is in progress.

In this regard, Deputy Commissioner of Cox's Bazar Md Kamal Hossain said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has a special focus on making Cox's Bazar a developed and perfect tourist city. Therefore, the current government is planning to implement development projects in Cox's Bazar. In the last two years, the government has approved 25 mega development projects in Cox's Bazar. Therefore, they need to be implemented at the right time.

Thus, the image of Bangladesh will be completely changed after 15 years if the development continuity is maintained. Business will be boosted and will create employment opportunity. At the same time, a large part of the national revenue will be acquired from Cox's Bazar.