Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Govt set to build Joydevpur-N’ganj elevated expressway

http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=135826

Govt set to build Joydevpur-N’ganj elevated expressway
Staff Correspondent

The government is set to launch final bidding and embark on construction of the much-hyped Joydevpur-Narayanganj elevated expressway soon with exemption from existing rules, Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain said at a seminar yesterday.

The ministry has already short-listed four bidders out of nine through a pre-qualification bidding and is now ready to go for final bidding soon, said the minister.

The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) organised the seminar on ‘Traffic Congestions in Dhaka City: Challenges and Options’ at the city’s Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.

The communications ministry on November 18, 2009 embarked on the $2-billion project to build the 32.5km elevated expressway.

“We will now go directly for tender bidding and then start execution immediately,” said Hossain, “We sought for exemption from existing rules to go for speedy execution of the project and the government gave us the waiver.”

The ministry has also invited tender bidding for pre-qualification for construction of the Padma Bridge.

The Japanese government has given a hint that they will finance 80 percent of the expressway project and will finalise it during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit, he said. A Japanese team will submit a report on the project in the next two months.

The cabinet committee on economic affairs on October 20 exempted the project from rules of Private Infrastructure Committee, Major Terms and Conditions Committee and Bangladesh Private Sector Infrastructure Guidelines to save time.

Country’s leading transport experts have always emphasised on an adequate and credible feasibility study for such a mega project.

According to the experts, the government should first ensure proper parking management, optimum use of the existing road spaces, and removal of bottlenecks and small-scale improvement of traffic network as some immediate measures to resolve Dhaka’s traffic mess.

CILT Vice Prescient Karar Mahmudul Hasan in a presentation said that the government should restrict any further registration of new private cars in the capital, remove truck stands from inside the city, free footpaths and avenues from illegal occupancy and phase out rickshaws to bring some relief in the horrendous traffic mess.

Replying to why the government cannot free the city’s roads and footpaths from illegal occupancy, the minister said it is the job of DCC claiming it has “relieved considerably the misery of city dwellers”.

The government intends to complete the construction of a flyover from Mirpur-10 to New Airport Road by 1212, said the minister.

While presiding over the seminar, CILT President Syed Rezaul Hayat said that a mass transport system is the ultimate solution to the mass people’s need

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