Govt makes quality check mandatory for imported bitumen
The government has built quality testing mandatory for all imported bitumen before releasing that from ports.
The federal government has issued a gazette notification in this regard on Tuesday, amending the Imports Policy Order 2015-18 beneath the sub-section (1) of the Imports and Exports (Control) Act-1950.
According to the gazette notification, investors must receive quality recognition and approval from 3 government-designated establishments including Bangladesh Expectations and Testing Institution (BSTI) before releasing imported bitumen right from the ports.
There have been allegations that low-quality bitumen is entering the united states and consequently being found in road construction in lack of proper testing of imported bitumen by simply any designated institutions.
Bangladesh is mostly dependent on imported bitumen. The united states imports 87 % of its total bitumen demand while state-possessed Eastern Refinery makes the others 13 per cent.
Sources in Bangladesh Petroleum Company (BPC) said Bangladesh includes a demand of around five lakh metric tonnes of bitumen annually.
Of the full total demand, ERL products 70,000 tonnes and the others is imported from Middle East countries.
According to the Roads and Highways Section, Bangladesh uses two types of bitumen--- 60/70 grade is more ideal for sustainable road development.
The 80/100-grade bitumen is more liquid compared to the 60/70 grade bitumen. During the rainy season, 80/100-grade bitumen will not sustain and roads get dilapidated sooner than the predicted service life.
Bitumen has been imported in drums and mass from different countries.
Earlier, the government-designated businesses, including the BSTI, didn't have any sort of scope to check the quality of imported bitumen. The complete level of imported bitumen applied to enter the country just only predicated on the import orders through the customs department.
Road transport experts also have prolonged been stressed the necessity for an effective quality check for imported bitumen.
The sustainability and toughness of roads rely upon the use of quality bitumen. But because of the use of low-quality bitumen, almost all of the roads obtain harmed or dilapidated in Bangladesh just simply 6-12 months to their construction, causing sufferings to commuters and waste material of public money.
A huge amount of public cash is wasted annually for repairing the dilapidated and damaged roads built with low-quality bitumen.
Options said around Tk 2,000 crore is spent yearly on expensive road repairs because of the poor strength of roads and highways.
Bitumen is a binding organic and natural material created from the by-goods of refined crude oil. It really is trusted in road construction since it is easy to develop, reusable, non-toxic, and a solid binder.
Source: www.daily-sun.com
