A technical evaluation committee has finally recommended awarding the construction supervision job of the Padma Bridge Project to a Korean joint-venture company.
Officials said the evaluation committee has given its nod in favour of appointing the Korean Expressway Corporation (KEC) as the construction supervision consultant (CSC) for the main bridge and the river training work against around Tk 3.0 billion quotation.
They said the Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) has already sent the recommendation to the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase for its approval.
"We are expecting to get the approval soon after the Prime Minister returns home," said a senior official.
Sources said with this the stalemate, created after the World Bank (WB) brought allegation of corruption conspiracy in the process of selecting the Canadian company - SNC Lavalin - as the CSC in September 2011, ended.
They also said the CSC appointment, which was supposed to be made first among all tenders, is going to be completed at the end of all process.
Sources said following WB's allegation BBA had to cancel the selection of SNC Lavalin as the CSC, and call the fresh expression of interest (EoI) in June 2013.
However, none of the five companies, earlier short-listed for being selected the CSC, showed interest for the work in the fresh round, whereas 11 new companies expressed eagerness. The fresh EoI was invited by dividing the CSC work into two parts.
The international companies will be responsible for the main bridge construction and the river training work of the Padma Bridge Project.
The Bangladesh Army was selected for three other components. It will do the work with the help of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).
Among the 11 companies, BBA short-listed four companies. Of these, KEC has been recommended for the CSC as lead partner.
Other joint ventures are: Pyunghwa Engineering Consultants Ltd and Korea Engineering Consultants Corporation of Korea, and ACE Consultant Ltd of Bangladesh. DevConsultants Ltd Bangladesh will also be involved with the supervision as sub consultant.
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