The long-awaited Dhaka-Ashulia elevated expressway is yet to make any headway more than two years after the project was approved and a contract signed for unavailability of a Chinese loan.
The Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA), the implementer of the Tk 169-billion scheme, could not pick subcontractors for the key construction work for the deal with a Chinese firm, sources said.
It said China Machinery Export and Import Corporation (CMC), the agent company, submitted names of three Chinese firms to work on the 35-kilometre expressway, including 10.8 km ramps.
The BBA entered into the deal on November 29, 2017, after China had nominated the CMC to do the job under a government-to-government arrangement.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council endorsed the project on October 24 of the same year. Since then, sources said, the BBA project office has supplied all necessary documents to and met queries from Chinese Exim Bank for the loan, but to no avail.
"The (Chinese) bank is yet to give the green light to this effect," a source spelt out.
A visiting delegation of the bank during a December 03 meeting could not confirm any time frame to give the loan equivalent to Tk 109.49 billion.
According to BBA officials, a year was lost as the BBA has to apply afresh for the loan due to a change in the application policy by the Chinese government.
They said the BBA applied for the loan first on December 18 soon after the contract but had to reapply a year later on October 21.
Since the project was taken after a pre-feasibility study in 2012, it has been going through different challenges mainly to manage a financier for the work.
Initially, the BBA wanted to get the job done under the public-private partnership (PPP) but later shifted from its stand for not getting any qualified companies.
It then decided to work on the project under a G2G arrangement based on a proposal from a Chinese firm.
But the Chinese government dropped this project to put Karnaphuli tunnel construction in a list prepared during the visit of President Xi Jinping.
Finally, the BBA accepted the Chinese agent's proposal in 2017 when it got the Chinese government's approval to construct the expressway under Chinese funds.
About the delay in starting work, project director Mohammad Shahbuddin Khan said they have done some groundwork by this time like appointment of design, independent and supervision consultants.
There is also some progress in land acquisition, he said, adding that the BBA also engaged TYPSA on July 11 this year to do the design review and supervision work.
The project office is now working to select the subcontractors proposed by the CMC, Mr Khan continued.
Sources said the CMC recommended China Major Bridge (CMB) Engineering Company, China Railway Engineering Company (CREC) and Jiangsu Provincial Transportation Engineering Group Company Limited (JTEG) to do the job.
The CMB is doing the main work on Padma Multipurpose Bridge project, the CREC on Padma Rail Link project and the JTEG on bus rapid transit line project.
Mr Khan said separate committees have been formed to review the profiles of the respective companies for final recommendations.
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