BIWTA to seek more time for completion of Pangaon ICT
Talha Bin Habib | Saturday, 9 April 2011
Talha Bin Habib
Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) will seek more time from the concerned ministry for completion of construction work of Pangaon Inland Container Terminal (ICT) in Dhaka, sources said. To this effect, the BIWTA authorities will send a letter to the ministry of shipping within the next few days seeking time extension by at least one year more to complete work of the much desired inland container terminal. The construction work was started in July 2005 and it was supposed to be completed by June 2011. But it will not be possible to complete the construction work by the deadline. The BIWTA authorities will seek time upto June 2012. The delay in completion of the construction work was caused due to some reasons, an official of BIWTA, preferring anonymity, told the FE. "We are going to send our proposals to the ministry of shipping soon for getting one year more time. The allocated budget for the project is Taka 177.57 billion, and the amount will remain the same despite time extension," he said. He said there are about seven packages of the project work, and some problems became visible in 2 to 3 packages of the work, compelling the authorities to call re-tender for some work of the project due to bad performance of some contractors engaged in the work. The progress of work of the project is now about 81 per cent. The rest of the work will be completed by June 2012, he added. The BIWTA has sought time extension for at least three times for completing the project work, according to BIWTA officials.
Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) will seek more time from the concerned ministry for completion of construction work of Pangaon Inland Container Terminal (ICT) in Dhaka, sources said. To this effect, the BIWTA authorities will send a letter to the ministry of shipping within the next few days seeking time extension by at least one year more to complete work of the much desired inland container terminal. The construction work was started in July 2005 and it was supposed to be completed by June 2011. But it will not be possible to complete the construction work by the deadline. The BIWTA authorities will seek time upto June 2012. The delay in completion of the construction work was caused due to some reasons, an official of BIWTA, preferring anonymity, told the FE. "We are going to send our proposals to the ministry of shipping soon for getting one year more time. The allocated budget for the project is Taka 177.57 billion, and the amount will remain the same despite time extension," he said. He said there are about seven packages of the project work, and some problems became visible in 2 to 3 packages of the work, compelling the authorities to call re-tender for some work of the project due to bad performance of some contractors engaged in the work. The progress of work of the project is now about 81 per cent. The rest of the work will be completed by June 2012, he added. The BIWTA has sought time extension for at least three times for completing the project work, according to BIWTA officials.