The authorities of Bangladesh and Japan has inked an agreement over the construction and renovation of 21 small and large bridges in the western region of Bangladesh with the Japanese government's aid, reports BSS.

Project Director Engineer Abdus Sabur and Mritunnjoy Ghoshal of Japanese construction company signed the treaty on behalf of their respective sides at the project office in Dhaka's Banani area on Thursday.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, Japanese Ambassador in Dhaka Ito Naoki, and Hayakawa Yuho of Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) Bangladesh Office joined the deal signing ceremony through videoconferencing.

Earlier, the Western Bangladesh Bridge Improvement Project was taken to construct 61 small and medium range bridges in 23 districts in the country's western region with the Japanese government funds.

Under the project, construction work of 25 bridges has already been completed and works for 35 more bridges are going to end, said a press release of the road transport and bridges ministry.

These bridges will strengthen road networks in the western region by reducing time and cost for travelling and transporting goods, it said.

Mentioning the continuous cooperation of Japan in Bangladesh’s road infrastructural development, Obaidul Quader, also Awami League general secretary, said as trusted friends, Bangladesh and Japan maintain very good bilateral relations.

Under the Japanese financial support, Metrorail Route-6 is being implemented to ease the traffic gridlock in the capital Dhaka, the minister said.

Besides, he said, constructions of 2nd Kanchpur, 2nd Meghna and 2nd Gumti bridges on the country’s life line Dhaka-Chittagong highway have been completed with financial aid of Japan.

Quader said Japanese finance in upgrading the highway from Chittagong to Cox’s Bazar, a city of tourist attractions having the longest sea-beach at a stretch, has already been approved in principle.

The minister said the construction of two field hospitals has been completed for treatment of metro-rail project manpower in coronavirus (Covid-19) cases to carry on the project work amidst the current situation. Work is going on for setting up viaduct on metro-rail tracks and for electricity connectivity.