BBA to seek legal advice before hiring Sinohydro

Munima Sultana | Published: August 08, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00

The Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) is finally going to seek legal advice to avert any possible conflict in awarding river training work of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project to Chinese company Sinohydro.
The BBA's latest move came following the company's poor performance in the Dhaka-Chittagong Four Lane project, which jeopardised expansion work of the country's prime highway.
Officials said they have already sent necessary documents to a law firm, seeking comment on selecting the Chinese company, the lowest bidder in the tender.
Sources said due to publication of various reports regarding Sinohydro's poor performance in the highway project, AECOM Maunsell, design consultant of the Padma Bridge project, has recommended the project office to seek legal advice in this regard.
"We have two options now. Either to award the river training work to the lowest bidder or call new tender," said an official.
He said the legal advice will keep the project office safe and help take decision.
Sources said despite criticism, selection of Sinohydro has been obvious, as the BBA cannot go for the second bidder, whose offer is Tk 40 billion higher than its offer.
Besides, starting fresh bidding will also be time-consuming, and it will further delay the billion-dollar project.
A senior official said the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) did not blacklist the Chinese company for its performance. Besides, the BBA need not follow the World Bank guideline. So, it is hard for the project office to take decision otherwise.
The RHD selected Sinohydro for the Dhaka-Chittagong Four Lane project in 2010. But the department is now having problem with the company, as it stopped the work, citing the reason of fund shortage, thus increasing the project cost over Tk 10 billion.
The company, responsible for constructing 70 per cent of the 193-kilometre highway, almost kept the work suspended since 2013.
Sources said due to complexity regarding selection of the Chinese company, the prime minister and senior ministers have become involved with the issue. The four-lane project director sent a confidential report on Sinohydro's performance to the road secretary last month, where he opined that giving the river training work to Sinohydro will not be a wise decision.
"We will not take decision now. We will review everything - recommendations of the consultant and the technical evaluation committee, legal advice and the prime minister's opinion - to take the final decision," said the senior official.
The project office, under the BBA, invited four technically qualified companies to submit their respective financial offers by June 19. Among them, Sinohydro offered the lowest bid of Tk 87 billion, Hyundai of South Korea Tk 121 billion, and Jan De Nul of Belgium Tk 160 billion.
Among the participating companies, only Sinohydro's financial proposal is lower than the BBA's estimated cost of Tk 90 billion.