DHK-SYL highway expansion: RHD to hire firms with poor record
The Roads and Highways Department is going to give two contractors with poor track records the job of implementing the Dhaka Sylhet highway expansion project.
The Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase (CCGP) has approved their appointments for one of the project's six packages; and the RHD is expected to sign contracts with them today (Thursday), department sources said.
Sinohydro Engineering Bureau 8 Corporation Ltd, a subsidiary of Chinese firm Sinohydro, which earned a bad name for its work in the Dhaka-Chattogram highway expansion, is going to be awarded a Tk 576.05 crore contract.
Toma Construction & Company Ltd (TCCL), a local company accused of being being reluctant in several projects, along with a Turkish company, is going to be awarded a Tk 896.81 crore contract.
The RHD is implementing the Tk 16,918.59-crore project to turn the 210km Dhaka-Sylhet highway into a four-lane one by adding a service lane on each side.
The authorities decided to conduct implementation under six packages and hire 13 contractors for quick execution.
They have already signed contracts with two China-Bangladesh joint ventures to implement package-1.
The RHD placed its proposals before the CCGP following the tendering process to appoint the two contractors for package-6.
The CCGP on November 10 gave its approval.
A joint venture of Turkey's ENEZ and Bangladesh's TCCL will expand a 14.10km stretch from the Sherpur Bridge Toll Plaza to Khashikapan Bazar in Sylhet, along with other related work.
On the other hand, Sinohydro will expand a 11.10km stretch from Khashikapan Bazar to the 7th Armed Police Battalion Headquarters, along with other related work.
Both contractors will get four years to complete the civil work. There will be a one-year defect liability period and then they will provide performance-based maintenance service for six more years.
SINOHYDRO
Sinohydro Corporation had won the contract to expand around 140km of the 192km Dhaka-Chattogram highway into a four-lane highway in January 2010.
They were supposed to complete the work within January 2013. But the firm was reluctant from the beginning after it got the contract at a lower rate. It also demanded additional money to finish the job.
Irked by the firm's delay, Obaidul Quader, road transport and bridges minister (then communication minister), spoke to the then Chinese ambassador in Dhaka twice, urging him to mount pressure on the firm.
It, however, yielded no results, according to report published in The Daily Star on February 5, 2014.
Things changed only after the company won the contract for river training in the Padma Bridge project in September 2014 and intensified its efforts to complete the highway expansion work.
It took up to June 2016 to finish the highway project work and the total cost escalated. It was finally completed in June 2017, with the cost having risen to Tk 3,439.21 crore from Tk 2,164.38 crore.
TOMA CONSTRUCTION
TCCL is currently involved in two railway projects -- the Chattogram-Cox's Bazar Rail Link and the Akhaura-Laksam rail line expansion project.
Toma, along with a Chinese firm, was assigned for a part of the Chattogram-Cox's Bazar project, while Max Infrastructure Ltd of Bangladesh, along with another Chinese firm, was assigned the other part.
TCCL's work progress is 15 to 16 percent behind than that of Max's, Project Director Mofizur Rahman told this correspondent on December 1.
Both the contracts were signed at the same time in September 2017 and the works were supposed to be completed within three years.
On November 11, BR's Director General Dhirendra Nath Mazumder told The Daily Star that TCCL and its Chinese partner were facing a "financial crisis" and thus, delaying project implementation.
They got the contract for around 20 percent less than the estimated cost, a BR official said wishing not to be named.
TCCL is one of the contractors involved in the Akhaura-Laksam rail line expansion project and the portion being implemented by it is lagging behind the others, the official said.
The project, taken up in 2014, was supposed to be completed within June 2020, but the deadline has now been extended to June 2023.
Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority, in connection with a project, investigated several projects carried out by TCCL and found most were delayed and suffered cost escalation, a BIWTA official said.
PROJECT AUTHORITIES', CONTRACTORS' SAY?
Contacted, Project Director AKM Fazlur Karim said the tendering process is being conducted following the guideline of the Asian Development Bank.
"They [Sinohydro and Toma] are neither blacklisted nor declared ineligible by the ADB. As they were found technically and financially responsive in the bidding process, we have nothing to do here but award them the contracts," he told The Daily Star on December 6.
About their poor track record, he said, "We have nothing to do if they are selected as per the rules."
In this regard, Mukitur Rahman, deputy managing director of TCCL, who is overseeing the RHD contract, told The Daily Star, "Every project is different. There is no link between this project and other projects [implemented by TCCL]."
Asked about the reported financial crisis and whether it would hinder the RHD project implementation, he said, "It's not possible to say now whether the project will face problems or delays."
Contacted, a representative of Sinohydro Engineering Bureau 8 Corporation Ltd claimed that although they are a concern of Sinohydro, they are not the exact company that was involved in the Dhaka-Chattogram highway expansion project.
"There were some issues that caused delays in the expansion project and the contractor was not liable for it," the representative told this correspondent preferring anonymity.
Two RHD officials, however, said there may be a difference in names but both contractors belong to Sinohydro.