Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said on Wednesday that former land minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury initiated the Karnaphuli Tunnel project primarily to facilitate his own easy access to his home in Chittagong.
Speaking at a discussion organized by the Development Journalists Forum of Bangladesh (DJFB) in the NEC conference room in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka, Shafiqul said: “Saifuzzaman Chowdhury’s house is in Anwara, Chittagong. There is not much there. He took up the Karnaphuli Tunnel project just to reach his area. Journalists should investigate this matter.”
He suggested that the tunnel should have been built 10 years later when development on the other side of the Karnaphuli River would have justified its necessity.
Shafiqul also criticized the construction of a "seven-star" hotel in the tunnel area at a cost of Tk450 crore, calling it a wasteful expenditure.
