Multi-modal transport hub project yet to start for lack of initiatives

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Munima Sultana The government is yet to take sufficient initiatives to set up a 'multi-modal transport hub' opposite Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital as recommended by experts. The project is expected to facilitate movement of air and railway passengers, and also those travelling by road, in order to help them avail different modes of transport services, under one roof. Transport experts had agreed at a coordination meeting two years ago to build the multi-level multi-modal 'transport hub' at the Airport Rail Station for using it as an interchanging point for all kinds of passengers. The recommendation was made in line with the government's initiative to introduce bus rapid transit (BRT) services from Gazipur to Sadarghat as one mass transport service will stop at the airport point. It was felt necessary to give the commuters supporting modes of transport from the hub for going to different destinations. The experts had also proposed to find out options for making the project commercially viable by setting up a shopping mall on one layer of the complex and linking the hub to the airport terminal and the Dhaka Elevated Expressway (DEE) through underground connection and the top layer after conducting a study. Officials said soon after the recommendation had been made, the ministry of communications undertook the project and listed it as one of its 13 public-private partnership (PPP) projects to make it viable. "Since then no major development in this connection has taken place," said an official. Experts say the government has to undertake some preparatory groundwork, like feasibility study, to make the PPP project attractive to private investors. They say there is also a need to involve the railway ministry with the project as its 1.5 acres of land at the Airport Station will be required for setting up the hub. Although the communications ministry has undertaken construction of the multi-modal transport hub under one of its BRT projects, in order to set up the dedicated bus lane from Gazipur to Airport, it is yet to complete the necessary formalities with the Bangladesh Railway (BR) to hand over its land. When the experts had recommended for the hub, the BR was part of the communications ministry. But it is now a separate ministry. An official of the Gazipur-Airport BRT project said the Bangladesh Railway has verbally agreed to provide its land for the hub, but the modalities are yet to be finalised. "We will soon organise an inter-ministerial meeting to convince the railway officials about the importance of the hub," said the project official. He said soon after the meeting, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) would be signed between the communications ministry and the BR to take the project ahead. The experts have said there should be a clear assessment of which and how many public sector entities will participate in the PPP project, as there is more than one ministry involved in the project. Moreover, the BR needs to have confidence that there will be no obstruction to its future development plan. Another communications ministry official said the formalities of the PPP cell, which was formed under the Prime Minister's Office, are yet to be completed with regard to the multi-modal transport terminal project. "Until and unless the PPP cell takes the project into account, we cannot take any major decision on it," said the project official adding that the ministry had recently made a new list of PPP projects, including the multi-modal transport hub, for speeding up the process of appointing a transaction adviser. Appointment of the transaction adviser is important to complete the project's preparatory work, including the feasibility study. Professor Shamsul Hoque of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) said like the BRT projects, the transport hub project was equally important for making the mass transport system effective. Dr Hoque, who was among the experts attending the coordination meeting, said it would offer a choice not only to the passengers of two BRT services, other passengers, even air passengers, can also avail their preferable transport modes. In the government's 20-year transport policy titled 'strategic transport plan', a line of mass rapid transit or metro rail has also been proposed, which the BUET professor said might have a link with the transport hub.