The government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Korean Express Way Corporation (KEC) for the maintenance of Padma Bridge.
The signing ceremony was held at Setu Bhaban in the presence of Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Thursday.
Md Rezaul Haidar, director (administration) of Bangladesh Bridges Authority, and Shinn Young Suk, managing director of KEC, signed the MoU on behalf of their respective organizations.
According to the MoU, a technical team of KEC will visit the Padma Multipurpose Bridge site soon and submit a technical proposal for the bridge maintenance procedure and necessary manpower, said Quader while talking to reporters after the signing ceremony.
Once it gets the proposal approved by the authorities concerned, the KEC will submit its financial proposal as per the bridge management and maintenance manual.
Later, an agreement will be signed based on negotiations between Bangladesh Bridges Authority and KEC.
Obaidul Quader said the KEC would introduce Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) system for realizing tolls. Under the system, no vehicle will have to stop at the toll booth as a vehicle lane will be maintained automatically.
Besides, the KEC will launch a traffic information application through which people will be able to keep themselves updated with the latest information of roads, bridges and other areas under its range through mobile phone, radio or other devices.
Talking about toll on highways, Quader said there is no scope to comment right now on the impact of toll on vehicles that use highways as no decision has been taken yet in this regard.
"Even, there has been no preliminary discussion to fix toll. So, there is no need to make any comment in advance," he added.
