Only 36 per cent of the work of upgrading the Dhaka-Chittagong highway to four lanes has been done till June 30, though the deadline for the project is set for December 2014, according to a recent Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) report.
In the report, the project consultant, Md Rafiul Islam, mentions that the roads division, implementing agency of the project, achieved only 31.92 per cent of the financial target and 30 per cent of the physical work till May 31.
The government revived the four-lane project on a priority basis and signed a deal with six construction firms on January 10, 2010. The road division signed 10 agreements for construction of roads and three for construction of bridges and over-passes.
The construction work was divided into 10 parts, of which seven went to Sino-Hydro Corporation Limited, a Chinese firm. The progress of the work allotted to Sino-Hydro Corporation is very slow, as it has been able to complete only 10 to 17 per cent of its share of work till the end of May. The findings also show that the firm has failed to provide necessary manpower, machinery and construction equipment.
Rafiul Islam pointed out that though Sino-Hydro Corporation had agreed to provide dump trucks, excavators,
motor graders, bulldozers, vibrating rollers, asphalt mixing plants, asphalt pavers, steel wheel rollers, pneumatic tyre rollers, flat trailers, air compressors, vibrating and diesel generators, among other equipment, it has not supplied any of these, thus compromising the progress of the project.
He said the Chinese firm did not have sufficient number of highway engineers, structural engineers, material engineers, site engineers and contract managers to check the quality of the project.
According to IMED officials, Sino-Hydro Corporation had accepted the contract at lower costs than the originally estimated project spending. They said the company has realised that it can’t reap any profit from the project and thus lost interest in it.
The officials also said that the minister, who had allegedly favoured the firm in getting the contract, was not in power anymore.
The IMED report says that the government has appointed 11 project directors (PD) to implement the project. It also says that frequent change of PDs has delayed the project. As per rules, recommendation by a high-level government committee, headed by the planning minister, is mandatory to change the PD, but the implementing agency did not follow the procedure.
The report said the project was undertaken in 2006, but its implementation started in 2011. Besides, it took four years to finalise the tender process. It was initially scheduled to be completed by December 2012. However, the project’s duration was extended twice and the present deadline is December 2014.
According to the detailed project plan (DPP), the expenditure has also increased to Tk. 3,216.87 crore from the original preliminary estimate of Tk. 2,168.38 crore in 2006. Of this, the Japan Debt Cancellation Fund (JDCF) will provide Tk. 400 crore.
Planning Commission sources said there is shortage of funds.
-With The Independent input
