Project to start early
Both the commencement and the completion of metro rail project had been brought forward as Japan increased the fund for the project, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said yesterday.
Initially, the project was supposed to roll out in 2016, but it will now begin in 2014. The project was initially supposed to be finished by 2021, but it would now be completed by 2018, Muhith told reporters after a meeting at the cabinet division.
His comments came after the cabinet committee on purchase approved a proposal for the appointment of contractor for the project.
The government has appointed a consortium led by Nippon Koei Company, a Japanese firm. The committee, at a meeting in the Secretariat chaired by Muhith, approved the appointment of the consultant, a consortium of six firms.
It is yet to be clear how much additional fund Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) will provide for the project. Asked, the officials of the Economic Relations Division did not make any comments in this regard.
Jica has already committed to provide Tk 16,594 crore of the estimated Tk 21,985 crore for the project, while the government will bear the rest.
The project will include elevated metro rail of 20.1 kilometre, 16 stations, and one depot. The project will roll out with the start of the work of the depot.
“I hope some of the parts of the project will be functional before 2018,” said Muhith.
The Japanese company, which has been appointed as the consultant for eight years, will get Tk 928.17 crore to complete the project under the Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development Project.
The consortium’s other members include Nippon Koei India; Delhi Metro Rail Corporation; Mott Macdonald Ltd, UK; Mott Macdonald, India; and Development Design and Consultants Ltd of Bangladesh.
Nippon Koei will work in three phases. In the pre-construction phase, the firm will manage the project and provide engineering services.
During the construction, it will supervise the construction and provide training for operation and maintenance, among other tasks. In the post-construction phase, it will monitor and advise the operation and maintenance, among other works.
The metro rail will run from Uttara Third Phase to Bangladesh Bank via Pallabi, Rokeya Sarani, Khamar Bari, Farmgate, Hotel Sonargaon, Shahbagh, Teacher-Student Centre (TSC), Doyel Chattar, and Topkhana Road.
Later, the tracks will be extended up to Sayedabad from Bangladesh Bank via Atish Dipankar Road.
The cabinet committee on purchase approved a total of 14 proposals, including the procurement of 50,000 tonnes of wheat and 50,000 tonnes of fertiliser from abroad.
The meeting also approved a proposal to appoint the contractor for constructing Shaheed Nazrul Islam Medical College Hospital in Kishoreganj.
A joint venture of Jamal and Company, and AML has won the work order for the Tk 176 crore project.
-With The Daily Star input
