Army to get widening job

In a sudden move, the communications ministry yesterday decided to award the now-suspended widening work of the 40-kilometre Joydevpur-Mawna stretch of the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway to Bangladesh Army.
The army will take up the job once the prime minister approves a proposal in this regard, Communications Minister Obaidul Quader told newsmen at the secretariat.
The announcement comes at a time when the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) has been evaluating fresh tenders submitted by 11 companies for the project.
However, a legal battle between the communications ministry and a local contractor has been pending with a tribunal over the cancellation of the original contract.
After failing to pick an eligible bidder, the communications ministry in May awarded the Tk 150 crore repair work of the Meghna and Meghna-Gumti bridges to the army.
The ministry under former minister Syed Abul Hossain had cancelled the original contract worth Tk 330 crore with Intraco BD in September last year, noting that the company had won the bidding by submitting a forged joint venture agreement with its Chinese partner Hebei Road and Bridge Group Company (HRBC).
As per the fresh tender floated in June, the project cost has been estimated at Tk 569 crore -- an increase by TK 239 crore from the original contract.
Intraco, though, refuted the allegation and went to the tribunal, leaving the construction work suspended.
The construction of the remaining 57km (Mawna to Mymensingh) of the highway is underway on a Tk 904 crore government-funded project.
PROJECT BACKGROUND
The Awami League in its electoral manifesto had pledged to upgrade the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway into four lanes. Accordingly, the government undertook a project in 2010 and the RHD entered into a contract with Intraco on January 27 last year with a view to upgrading the Joydebpur-Mawna road.
The deal was signed following recommendations by a six-member tender evaluation committee (Tec) headed by RHD Chief Engineer Aminur Rahman Laskar.
During the evaluation, the Tec received a complaint against Intraco claiming that the firm had forged documents on its joint venture partnership with the HRBC.
The Tec found that the complainant used a fake name and address. Though there is no provision for the committee to entertain such complaints, the Tec considered it in order to make sure the evaluation was flawless and transparent.
Contacted by the committee, the HRBC head office in China confirmed that the joint venture with Intraco was genuine.
Intriguingly, the then communications minister Syed Abul Hossain sent the RHD chief engineer and a deputy secretary of his ministry to China to verify the joint venture.
Upon their return home, the two reported that the joint venture was false.