Dhaka-M'singh highway widening work to begin soon

Dhaka-M'singh highway widening work to begin soon

FE Report

The Dhaka-Mymensingh highway widening work will begin soon at a cost of Tk 9.0 billion as the government completed signing agreements with the project contractors and consultant Thursday.

The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) signed the agreements with the three contractors, all joint ventures of China and Bangladesh, to construct the 87-kilometre road.

The department also signed another agreement with United States-Bangladesh joint venture firm to work as consultant of the project.

The agreement signing ceremony held at the RHD conference room Thursday was witnessed by Communications Minister Syed Abul Hossain.

RHD officials said HRBC of China and Intraco Bangladesh Limited have won the work of the first two phases beginning from Joydevpur to Rajendrapur and from Rajendrapur to Mawna.

The third phase starting from Mawna to Raimoni will be constructed by MBEC of China and Project Builder Limited of Bangladesh and the last phase from Raimoni to Mymensingh by MCCC of China and Shamim Engineering and Toma Enterprise of Bangladesh.

Luis Burger Group Incorporate of the United States and BCL of Bangladesh will work as the consultant of the project, the officials added.

Speaking on the occasion, the communications minister said Dhaka-Mymensingh highway work has been taken up as part of the government's plan to widen the country's national highways into four-lane ones.

He also alerted that if the contractors fail to finish the work in time, the government would confiscate their performance guarantees.

The Dhaka-Mymensigh highway widening project was one of the components of the World Bank committed Road Sector Reform Project. As part of the project, making the highway from Dhaka to Joydevpur four laned was completed but the rest of the work remained suspended due to bank's withdrawal of funding of the project on allegation of widespread corruption.

The present government revived the project in 2010 considering importance of the highway and decided to construct it from its own fund. The bidding process started in October and completed with the approval of the cabinet purchasing committee on January 6 this year.