Cabinet body bins plea for Tk 25b PPP fund

FE Team | Published: April 07, 2010 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has turned down a Communication Ministry proposal to divert the block allocation fund of Tk 25 billion (2,500 crore) under public-private partnership (PPP) scheme to the Dhaka Elevated Expressway (DEE) project, reports UNB.
However, a Labour Ministry proposal for forming a wage commission for workers and employees in industries in the public sector, and a proposal of the Food Ministry to import 3,00,000 tonnes of wheat from Russia at the state-level received the committee's nod.
According to official sources, the cabinet body found the Communication Ministry's plea a very premature one, as the government's role and stake in the project are yet to be determined, although it was conceived to be implemented as a PPP project.
The Communication Ministry in its proposal urged the Cabinet Committee to recommend an allocation of Tk 25 billion from the PPP fund to the Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) for implementing the DEE project, as it will be implemented as a PPP project.
The Cabinet body was informed by the Communication Ministry that the BBA has already selected four international firms as pre-qualified bidders through inviting a direct pre-qualification (PQ) tender following approval by the government.
The firms are Italian-Thai Development Public Company Ltd (Thailand), Sikder Real Estate-KCC JV (Bangladesh-Korea), Gammon Infrastructure Projects Ltd-Bouygus Travaux Publics SA Consortium (India-France) and China Railway International Ltd (China).
Besides, the Communication Ministry had appointed AECOM Australia Proprietary Ltd as its consultant for the DEE project. The firm will prepare the request for proposal (RFP) and other documents, and also provide suggestions about PPP structure and concession agreements on the project in the next six months.
Determining the routes of the DEE, preparing engineering design, and studying the traffic and revenue earnings are included in the scope of the works for the consultants in the terms of reference (TOR).
Sources said the cabinet committee asked the Communications Ministry to work on determining the government's cost and stake in the project as a PPP project.
The committee also advised the Ministry to place the fund allocation related proposal after issues relating to the government's involvement, cost and stake in the DEE project are finalised.
"Unless the cost and stake of the government in the DEE project are determined, it will be unwise to allocate any fund for the project," a top official of the Cabinet Division said, quoting Finance Minister AMA Muhith, who presided over the Cabinet Committee meeting.
After the meeting, the Finance Minister told journalists that the Communication Ministry has selected four pre-qualified bidders for the DEE project. Now, the final proposals will come from the four bidders, and one of them will be selected through a competitive bidding process.
The Cabinet Committee also approved a proposal of the Labour and Employment Ministry to form a National Wages and Productivity Commission, to determine the salary structure of the workers of different state-owned industries.
As per the proposal, the Labour and Employment Ministry will form a Commission, which will submit its report within the next six months.
The committee also approved a proposal of the Food Ministry to import 300,000 tonnes of wheat from the Russian Federation under a state-to-state agreement.