The Financial Express (Bangladesh) reports, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will preside over tomorrow’s elaborate opening of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge, and officials expect a “huge public gathering — likely to be a million people” to attend the day-long ceremony. Completion of the 6.15-kilometer (3.8-mile) toll bridge, a matter of national pride, is expected to stimulate economic activity in southern districts that previously lacked reliable transportation and communication links to the rest of the country.
The Business Standard reports, the government will suspend tolling of more than a dozen bridges on Saturday to ease vehicle traffic to the opening event.
New Age reported in April that the government awarded a five-year maintenance and toll collection system contract to a Korea Expressway Corporation and China Major Bridge Engineering Company. The contract’s value was put at 692.92 BDT (approximately 74.6 million USD). China Major Bridge Engineering was the bridge’s principal contractor.
The Daily Star and The Hindu look at the long and controversial history of the bridge construction project.