Contractor disappears, leaving bridge work incomplete in Sylhet
Sylhet Bureau :
The contractor of the project has gone missing, leaving the work of the bridge under construction over the river in Daulatpur area of Osmaninagar in Sylhet. This has increased the suffering of the locals.
This bridge is being constructed over the Buri River in Paschim Pailonpur Union of the upazila. The work was supposed to be completed on June 30. The villagers of Daulatpur in the union had been expecting a bridge over the river for a long time. The contractor disappeared, leaving this expected project of the villagers unfinished.
Meanwhile, the concerned department is also not getting any trace of the contractor to understand how far the project work has progressed after the end of the term. Although all of the contractor’s multiple mobile numbers are active, none of them are receiving calls. In such a situation, there is concern about when the bridge work will be completed.
It is learned that the bridge construction project over the Buri River was approved in the fiscal year 2023-24 under the Upazila Project Implementation Office. A contracting company named Ayan Enterprise was given the responsibility of implementing the project at a cost of Tk 1.1 crore. Last year, the piling work of the bridge was done. This year, after constructing the structures on both sides of the bridge to construct the main part of the bridge, the contractor stopped the work and left with the materials. Earlier, after starting the work, the contractor withdrew 40 percent of the total allocation. Since then, no one has been able to contact Rajib, the owner of the contracting company. Even the project implementation officer tried to contact him but failed. Later, they were forced to inform the higher authorities about the matter. Meanwhile, locals complain that the work has not been completed yet, and the work done by the contractor is of poor quality.
Visiting the project site on the Buri River, it was seen that so far no work has been done on the bridge except for the abutments on both sides.
Motilal Dutta, a resident of Daulatpur village, said that the bridge is the fruit of their long-standing demand. After getting the job, the contractor completed the design and project-related documents of the bridge last year. This year, after building the initial structure on both sides including the girder wall, the company left with the goods. Since then, there has been no trace of the contractor.
Locals said that since there are walls on both sides, even a bamboo bridge cannot be built. Due to this, there is no way to make temporary arrangements to cross the river. The work that has been done is of poor quality. At this time, they demanded that the authorities take necessary measures to complete the work quickly.
West Pailanpur Union Parishad Chairman Golam Rabbani Chowdhury Suman said that they have spoken to the concerned department many times to expedite the construction of the bridge on the Buri River in Daulatpur. The people of the area are suffering due to the non-completion of the bridge. They are also disappointed to see the implementation of their long-standing demands stalled in front of their eyes.
In this regard, the mobile phone number of the owner of the contracting company, Rajib, has been called several times.
Upazila Project Implementation Officer Ataur Rahman said, “The contractor cannot be found in any way. The matter has been informed to the higher authorities. It is hoped that steps will be taken soon to complete the bridge work.”
