After MoU, Chinese co starts striving for fund

A Chinese company has moved to mobilise fund from its government to finance the proposed Karnaphuli tunnel project in Chittagong.
The initiative comes following signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the authority concerned in Bangladesh to construct the tunnel under the river under a government-to-government (G2G) arrangement.
The Bangladesh Bridges Authority (BBA) signed the MoU with China Communication Construction Company (CCCC) on December 22.
The Chinese company now will seek approval from the ministry concerned and place a proposal for funds from the Chinese government before getting the job on the G2G basis.
The CCCC earlier showed interest in constructing the tunnel as it carried out a feasibility study in April 2013 along with a Hong Kong firm, finding the 3.4-kilometre passageway economically viable.
But no major progress had been made yet as the Chinese Embassy linked the demand for land on the other side of the Karnaphuli River to set up a special economic zone of that country to funding the tunnel project.
After signing the deal, officials said, the CCCC had already taken steps to get approval from the Chinese government before preparing the commercial proposal for the project.
"We expect to get approval from the Chinese government soon," said an official.
He said after getting the approval from the Chinese government through the Economic Relations Division, the commercial proposal would be sought.
During Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's last visit to the country she assured her Chinese counterpart of providing land for setting up the economic zone.
Sources said the local agent of the CCCC had already made progress in getting the Chinese Commerce Ministry's approval and preparing the commercial proposal for the project.
If constructed, it will be the country's first tunnel under a river connecting the Chittagong city with the proposed deep-sea port and Cox's Bazar, the tourist town.
The feasibility study had confirmed that the multi-lane tunnel route would pass through the river with the Navy College at one end and Korean Export Processing Zone (KEPZ) and Karnaphuli Fertiliser Company (KAFCO) at the other end.
The tunnel would help reduce the distance between Chittagong and Cox's Bazar and ease traffic congestion on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway.
The joint-venture between the Chinese and Hong Kong consulting firms -- China Communication Construction Company (CCCC) and ARUP, which conducted the feasibility study over the last two years -- proposed construction of the tunnel having a total length of over 6.0 km including two approach roads. The estimated cost comes to US$ 692 million.
The officials said the project cost was likely to go up as almost two years have already elapsed.
The BBA has already prepared the development project proposal and sent it to the Planning Commission for approval.
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