The U-loops on Dhaka’s Airport Road might be a perfect example of how public money is spent on arbitrary projects. Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) constructed two U-loops over two years ago — spending Tk 3 crore — despite knowing that they would be demolished just years later to construct bus rapid transit (BRT). Recently, the structures, one in front of Rajlakshmi Shopping Complex and the other near Jashimuddin Road in Uttara, were torn down, as BRT’s construction started on the Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway.
The U-loops were built under a Tk 24.83-crore project taken up in 2016 for building 11 U-loops, to ease the city’s nagging traffic congestion. These structures allow vehicles to take turns without obstructing traffic flow. The project was revised later, and the total cost shot up to Tk 31.81 crore. The DNCC was well aware that the structures would get in the way of BRT, and they would have to be demolished eventually. And yet, authorities went for it. Just two years after construction, the U-loops were demolished. It was a blunder, and they did it believing that they would not have to take responsibility for the mess. There should be accountability. Public money is not a plaything.
Experts said the government should hold the DNCC mayor and others involved in the project accountable for spending public money in such a wasteful way. The project director of the U-loops admitted that when the U-loop project was undertaken, it was mentioned that the ones in Uttara would be demolished when works for big projects like BRT and flyover start. Traffic police and locals said the U-loop eased severe traffic jams in the area for the last two years. After the construction of BRT and flyover, similar U-loops will need to be constructed in between the gaps of the flyover’s pillars.
We must say, all government entities should be accountable to the people for their deeds and spending. To ensure accountability in public spending, formal audit, accountancy and accountability must be ensured and a social accountability system should be devised there.
