Dhaka-Chittagong Highway
Four-lane scheme delayed by a year
New consultancy firm awaits govt nod
Launching of the construction works to upgrade Dhaka-Chittagong highway would take more time although 11 months since the signing of the job contract have already been passed over consultancy glitch.
Arifur Rahman Zinnah, director of the Tk 1,655 crore project, claimed that the construction work would start from the end of December this year. Officials of Roads and Highways Department, however, projected that it might take more time as the government is still stuck in appointing a consultant.
“We have chosen a new consultancy firm and will sign a deal with it by the end of this month. The firm is awaiting approval of the cabinet committee on government purchase,” Zinnah, who has recently taken charge of the project, told The Daily Star.
He is optimistic about completing the project by 2013.
Expansion of the two-lane Dhaka-Chittagong highway was initiated in 2006 with a view to complete the construction in three years. However, the successive governments failed to finalise the project.
The present government revived the project on a priority basis and signed a deal with Chinese company Sinohydro Corporation and two local companies Reza Construction and Tahir Brothers Ltd on January 10 this year.
The project has been in jeopardy since Pakistani consultant Nespak, which was supposed to monitor the work, suddenly quit in June this year after its demand for higher fees was rejected. It did not respond despite repeated warnings prompting the government to cancel the deal and opting for fresh move for a new consultant.
The consultancy row then turned into a legal battle. The High Court imposed an injunction on appointing a new firm following a writ filed by Nespak against the deal cancellation. The government appealed to the higher court for vacating the stay order. This legal confrontation exhausted more time in implementing the project.
“We have won the legal conflict, which paved the way for the recruitment of a new consultant,” said the project director, adding that they have selected CES-DEVCON, a Bangladesh-India joint venture firm.
Meanwhile, a number of RHD officials believe that frequent changing of project directors (seven times) is another reason behind the delay in commencing the construction. Md Mafizur Islam was the last project director replaced.
Sinohydro Corporation, Reza Construction and Tahir Brothers Ltd are almost sitting idle after completing primary tasks like constructions of project offices and accommodation for workers.
The delay might make the highway impossible to negotiate with as the number of vehicles plying on it has crossed over 22,000 a day prolonging a six-hour journey to 10-15 hours.
“The highway just cannot take anymore load. It in such a shambles that even a flat tyre of a truck can trigger miles of tailbacks on either side of the carriageway,” said an official of Highway Development and Management Circle of RHD.
The country’s busiest highway linking the port city and the capital has become a death trap due to increasing vehicular movement and frequent road crashes.
