The contract to build and run the flyover was allegedly awarded against consultant's recommendations to an inexperienced company linked with the scandal ridden Orion Group.

The Daily Star has obtained two feasibility assessment reports on the project by the same consultant, contradicting each other in recommending the Belhasa-Accom and Associates Ltd, which won the contract.

Many officials of the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) who were involved with the project allege that the documents were manipulated to get Belhasa the job. But the project director of the flyover said somebody faked the documents to put Belhasa in trouble.

Whatever the case, many officials now feel that the flyover awarding process should be thoroughly investigated to find out if any misdeeds had taken place.

The joint venture of the UAE-based construction firm Belhasa International LLC and Accom Engineering Company Ltd is chaired by Orion Group owner M Obaidul Karim, who is now in hiding after being implicated as the key man behind embezzling Tk 596.44 crore from Oriental Bank.

Belhasa-Accom and Associates allegedly "managed" senior officials concerned of Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) in order to gain the contract through "mutual understanding", claim DCC staff. This was despite the company's bid being 'criticised' by an independent consultant brought in to evaluate the competing bids.

The Jatrabari-Gulistan Flyover is an 8-km stretch of mainly elevated highway aimed at easing Dhaka's heavily congested traffic. It is a build-own-operate-and-transfer (BOOT) scheme in which the constructor finances the building in return for the right to collect tolls for a set number of years. After this period the flyover will be handed over to the DCC.

However, the tender process 'failed' to award the contract to Cord-Percon, a company that the independent consultant 'described' in his report as having the "lowest responsive bid". Or that is what one set of the documents carrying the consultant's signature show.

Instead a 'new altered' report allegedly signed by the consultant suddenly appeared with an opposite recommendation. This time the Belhasa-Accom bid was recommended despite the fact that its costs had mysteriously increased from Tk 367 crore to Tk 567 crore.

The higher price allows the construction company to justify a longer period for collecting toll in order to recoup its costs. Belhasa-Accom has been granted the right to collect tolls on the flyover for 24 years.

Atul Bhobe was the independent consulting engineer appointed by the Dhaka Transport Coordination Board to study the bidders' aptitude and assess the technical feasibility. Bhobe recommended Cord-Percon in his evaluation: "The Cord-Percon JV is fully responsive and technically superior to the other bids of Belhasa-Accom JV and Projalma Construction," is written in one report bearing Atul's signature.

The said report was critical of the Belhasa-Accom bid stating that the company's submission of "multiple proposals with inadequate supporting documentation, inadequate experience of having implemented BOOT projects leads to questions about the bid of Belhasa-Accom JV, which has anyway submitted a higher financial bid."

The report continues: "Even if the other two bids are considered, the toll rates as proposed by the Cord-Percon JV coupled with a lower concession period implies that this bid should be considered as the lowest responsive bid and is therefore recommended for acceptance."

However, the 'altered' report also bearing Atul's signature says the Cord-Percon design "stands out like an eyesore" and that a financial guarantee asked for in the bid "appears to be difficult and impractical to implement". It concludes that the "Belhasa-Accom bid is recommended for acceptance."

A DCC official said, "The project officials hid the original assessment report of Atul Bhobe who had clearly mentioned in his report that Belhasa-Accom could not qualify for the project as it lacked supporting documents and experience of having implemented BOOT projects earlier."

When contacted Atul refused to comment on the reports. "Making a comment on the issue is out of my professional ethics," he said.

DCC Mayor and former BNP MP Sadek Hossein Khoka told The Daily Star, "The project was not approved by the DCC...The project was approved by the cabinet committee on economic affairs."

DCC's project director to Jatrabari-Gulistan flyover Ashiqur Rahman said, "Some vested group might have done this conspiracy to create confusion...The lowest bidder was awarded the project through competitive bidding and in a transparent way."

K Mujibul Haq, one of the project directors of Belhasa-Accom and Associates Ltd, denied the allegations of irregularities terming them "wrong".

"Everything was done in a fair way," a senior executive of Orion Group quoted Mujibul as saying.

Although Belhasa-Accom was chosen by the DCC, the contract approval still faced several hurdles at various government levels. For example, the secretary committee led by the principal secretary to the then prime minister, as reported by some newspapers, objected to the company's proposed tax holiday on the scheme.

This objection found support at cabinet committee, where the then finance and planning minister M Saifur Rahman said taxes should not be waived. The committee sent the proposal back twice because it did not meet some "provisions of private sector guidelines".

The award was finally approved by the committee on March 19, 2005, and the ground was officially broken by the then prime minister Khaleda Zia on June 21, 2006.

However, after eight months little progress has been made and company officials accepted that the scheme was already behind schedule. Nevertheless, they remain hopeful that the project will be completed by its target date of June 2009.

Once completed the toll rates for the vehicles will be revised after every three-year, with the change in line with the aggregated inflation rate. The DCC will get five percent share of the profit from the income of the flyover without having any financial investment.

As per the initial toll rate, every two-wheeler will have to pay Tk 5, auto-rickshaw Tk 10, car Tk 35, jeep Tk 40, microbus Tk 50, pick-up Tk 75, minibus Tk 100, truck (four-wheel) Tk 100, bus Tk 100, truck Tk 150 and trailer Tk 200 for each entry.

According to experts, the cost of constructing the flyover would be recovered in five-six years of the approved 24 years the company retains the right to collect tolls. There is also an option in the agreement for increasing the years of ownership or the toll rate if Belhasa-Accom and Associates Ltd does not collect as much in toll as they have estimated.