Project cost to spike as another revision looms

The Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane highway project cost is set to spike once again, as less than 50 per cent work could be done with the December deadline looming.

The project cost on revision once again could be higher by over 40 per cent than the Tk 21.68 billion estimated in the initial Development Project Proposal (DPP), said an official of the Roads and Highways Department (RHD).

Md. Nawajish Rahman Biswas, assistant engineer at the RHD said: "As the project period under the current Revised Development Project Proposal (RDPP) will expire in December next, we are already working on revision of the RDPP."

He also said undoubtedly the costs would increase but it was not the ripe time to predict it.

The fully government-funded project's cost while placing the work order in 2010 was Tk 21.68 billion. But the RDPP cost increased by more than 30 per cent until 2013 with frustratingly slow pace of construction.

The construction work on the 192-kilometre four-lane highway from Daudkandi to Chittagong was divided into ten blocks and the construction work was awarded to two local and one Chinese firms.

As the progress in construction work was not satisfactory, the RHD extended the timeframe more than once. Still the construction work done was less than 50 per cent.

According to an RHD official, barring the good performance by the local firms the overall progress in construction work was poor. The project costs on revision for the first time and second time stood at Tk 23.82 billion and Tk 31.90 billion respectively.

Md. Nawajish Rahman said: "Construction work on the four-lane highway was slow because of the rainy season. During the period we were engaged in maintenance work and we are now back to do our main four-lane work."

According to an RHD official, the construction work done by the two local companies in three blocks were satisfactory, but the major work in seven blocks awarded to the Chinese firm was facing a setback due to their miscalculation of the bidding rates.

He said rates for the local firms were higher than the Chinese company and the average progress in construction work was more than 75 per cent in their three blocks out of ten.