The largest infrastructure in the country is finally open to the public after years of anticipation.
The entire Padma bridge project was built with the country’s own funds costing Tk30 thousand 193 crore, where the Finance Department has lent almost the entire construction cost to the bridge authority.
The bridge department is expected to repay the money in 35 years with a 1% interest. As a result, Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) will have to bear the burden of debt till 2057.
On the other hand, there is no rationale for the decision to pay one and a half to two times more toll, however, not conventional but an intelligent new toll system can make the Padma Bridge truly useful.
The infrastructure will not only facilitate communication; it will also create economic benefits in a number of sectors, including agriculture, fisheries, emergency healthcare and industry, but due to the high toll, the people will not benefit as expected.
All departments of the government, including the bridge department, allocate annual budgets; it is not desirable to levy high tolls on budget-funded bridges on the pretext of borrowing money from the Finance Department. Instead, products from the agriculture and agricultural sub-sectors such as vegetables, fruits, fish, fertilizers, Eid-ul-Adha cattle carts etc can be kept toll-free as they are built with domestic funds.
The government of Bangladesh gives some subsidies to fertilizers, without which it does not play many roles in ensuring the production value of agricultural products, therefore, a new way of thinking is needed to create infrastructural protection in agriculture.
Talking about foreign loans, toll collection on big and medium bridges in Bangladesh never stops. Even though the loan for the Jamuna bridge was repaid long ago, the toll collection has not stopped yet.
On the other hand, there is also inequality in the toll rate. Cars, jeeps and microbuses all have the same rates.
To put things in perspective, cars worth Tk10 lakh and cars worth Tk1 crore are forced to pay the same toll.
The toll for low-end passenger buses is kept slightly lower than for luxury buses, proving that there is no consistency in the toll that has been fixed for the Padma Bridge.
Instead, a new toll system needed to be set up to cater to the marginal economy, with the upper class paying higher tolls and the lower class having to pay a nominal rate. Besides, in determining the toll, it was necessary to consider the agricultural sector.
According to economists, Padma Multipurpose Bridge (road and rail combined) will add 1.23% growth to the GDP, but due to the very high tolls, the chances of that happening will also decrease now.
This is because the cost of transporting goods from the district connecting the bridge to the other side of the country will increase and as a result, the agricultural products of the southern districts will not be able to compete with other parts of the country. It won’t be surprising if people try to cross the Padma by boat or trawler with goods.
As the toll rates on small, medium and large trucks and lorries are unbearable, this high transport fare will definitely hamper the industrial development of the South.
The southern region is also prone to storms and disasters and in case of natural calamities, traffic jams, technical problems on ferries, fog, storms, or ferry traffic on the Paturia-Goalandha route, some ferry users will have to use the new bridge even though it means travelling long distances as an alternative route. But it will not be possible as the toll is high.
There is no tripartite adjustment of distance, fuel consumption and toll rate on the Padma Bridge toll system.
The toll rate of the bridge has been made in pursuit of the usual higher revenue. This toll rate is not a smart idea to accelerate economic development, but to increase the cost to the people as a result of the extra money earned by the indebted government.
Meanwhile, the toll will also be levied on the Dhaka expressway, as the road construction cost per kilometre is the highest in the world--more than Tk200 crore per kilometre. According to this, besides Padma Bridge, two more bridges and one expressway will cause users to pay toll at four different places.
This means the rising transportation costs for the people of the south will hamper the growth of the economy and prevent it from reaching its true potential.
The author is a physician, author, activist and international award-winning youth leader from Bangladesh. He is the first Bangladeshi to win the Outstanding Young Leader of Asia Award
