Kazi Zahidul Hasan :
The construction work of the Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane highway project is going on in full swing after settlement of all the procedural and legal complexities by the administration, official sources said.
“About 75 per cent construction work of the project has already been completed till April this year,” a senior Roads and Highway Department (RHD) official told The New Nation on Wednesday, asking not to be named.
He said that the main construction work of converting the 192-kilometre Dhaka-Chittagong highway into four-lane is going on in full swing following the removal of all the procedural and legal complexities by the authorities concerned.
“The construction of 14 bypasses and the carpeting in the 115-kilometre road of the project has already been completed. The highway is expected to be ready for plying of vehicles by December next,” he further said.
He claimed that the administration has already cleared the payments for land acquisition and it has also settled other disputes amicably.
When asked, he said, a problem was raised with the Sino Hydro but has settled now with the intervention between the governments of Bangladesh and China.
The RHD in 2010 awarded the project work to three construction firms: Sino Hydro Corporation Ltd of China, and Reza Construction Ltd and Taher Brothers-ACL joint venture of Bangladesh.
“Sino Hydro is working sincerely and their progress in the project construction is now better than other contractors,” added the RHD. The officials said that after the completion of the project, it will take about four and half- to five hours to go to Chittagong from Dhaka.
Of the total work, the Chinese firm is responsible for completing 70 per cent in seven packages, while the two Bangladesh firms the rest in three packages.
Work on the Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane project has been going on for the past eight years. It has faced tender cancellations twice and frequent changes of project director and alleged apathy by the contractors.
Responding to a question, the RHD official said, initially the project has faced fund crisis due to poor budget allocation. But the Ministry of Finance increased the allocation in the last two fiscals to speed up the project implementation.
The project was initially undertaken by the BNP-Jamaat government in 2005. But due to a series of procedural hurdles and two failed tenders, the project did not see any light.
Assuming office in 2009, the Awami League government took up the project and floated a fresh tender to upgrade the highway, which is the most used road for exports and imports.
The government in January 2010 signed deals with the three firms to expand the highway in three years.
But the work began in 2011 as problems relating to the appointment of project’s consultant.
However, the work did not get momentum due to delay in earth filling, fund crunch and demand for money by local goons from the contractors.
This led the ministry to revise the DPP (development project planning) and re-fix the cost at Tk 2,382 crore.
Later, the cost was raised to Tk 3,190 crore when the DPP was revised again, bringing some crucial changes to the project and changing its design.
The construction work of the Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane highway project is going on in full swing after settlement of all the procedural and legal complexities by the administration, official sources said.
“About 75 per cent construction work of the project has already been completed till April this year,” a senior Roads and Highway Department (RHD) official told The New Nation on Wednesday, asking not to be named.
He said that the main construction work of converting the 192-kilometre Dhaka-Chittagong highway into four-lane is going on in full swing following the removal of all the procedural and legal complexities by the authorities concerned.
“The construction of 14 bypasses and the carpeting in the 115-kilometre road of the project has already been completed. The highway is expected to be ready for plying of vehicles by December next,” he further said.
He claimed that the administration has already cleared the payments for land acquisition and it has also settled other disputes amicably.
When asked, he said, a problem was raised with the Sino Hydro but has settled now with the intervention between the governments of Bangladesh and China.
The RHD in 2010 awarded the project work to three construction firms: Sino Hydro Corporation Ltd of China, and Reza Construction Ltd and Taher Brothers-ACL joint venture of Bangladesh.
“Sino Hydro is working sincerely and their progress in the project construction is now better than other contractors,” added the RHD. The officials said that after the completion of the project, it will take about four and half- to five hours to go to Chittagong from Dhaka.
Of the total work, the Chinese firm is responsible for completing 70 per cent in seven packages, while the two Bangladesh firms the rest in three packages.
Work on the Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane project has been going on for the past eight years. It has faced tender cancellations twice and frequent changes of project director and alleged apathy by the contractors.
Responding to a question, the RHD official said, initially the project has faced fund crisis due to poor budget allocation. But the Ministry of Finance increased the allocation in the last two fiscals to speed up the project implementation.
The project was initially undertaken by the BNP-Jamaat government in 2005. But due to a series of procedural hurdles and two failed tenders, the project did not see any light.
Assuming office in 2009, the Awami League government took up the project and floated a fresh tender to upgrade the highway, which is the most used road for exports and imports.
The government in January 2010 signed deals with the three firms to expand the highway in three years.
But the work began in 2011 as problems relating to the appointment of project’s consultant.
However, the work did not get momentum due to delay in earth filling, fund crunch and demand for money by local goons from the contractors.
This led the ministry to revise the DPP (development project planning) and re-fix the cost at Tk 2,382 crore.
Later, the cost was raised to Tk 3,190 crore when the DPP was revised again, bringing some crucial changes to the project and changing its design.
