Govt sacks Pak consultant for poor feat
Thursday, 27 May 2010
Munima Sultana
The government has terminated the Pakistani consultant of the Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane project in the middle of its field-level preparation work for 'unsatisfactory' performances.
Roads and Highways Department (RHD) terminated the contract of National Engineering Services Pakistan (NESPAK) on May 18, just before starting the Tk 23.82 billion project's supervision works.
Officials said the NESPAK who won the bidding for both design and supervision works of the highway widening project in 2006 could not meet the requirements including providing manpower and design development supports.
They said there were allegations of non-cooperation against the firm with the executing agency RHD since works of the four-lane project began this February after almost four years of stoppage due to various reasons.
"The government has taken the right and timely decision to complete the important project properly. We had to take the decision, as the appointment of the consultant for the Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane project was not done with proper evaluation," said project director Mohammad Mafizul Islam.
Allaying fear of delay in implementing the project, the PD said the department has already taken steps to appoint new consultant to carry out its supervision works by this October.
"We have terminated the firm at such a stage that the decision is expected to reinforce the project," he said. "We have to change the design of the four-lane project several times and could not get necessary officials from the consulting firm to carry out the project mobilization works due to their indifferent attitude," he told the FE.
NESPAK has so far spent Tk 89 million to carry design works. But it has been demanding revision of the contract to increase their consultancy fees to Tk 390 million on the ground of delay by four years, which the government did not agree.
Plans to expand the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway into four lanes were initiated in 2004, but the bidding process was cancelled twice - in 2006 and in 2008 - due to alleged unfair practices.
The PD said the department has taken moves to appoint new consultant at a fixed budget of Tk 236 million to carry out the supervision part of the work.
The government has already revised the project cost of Dhaka-Chittagong Highway four-lane project to Tk 23.82 billion, 43 per cent up from the proposal of the bid winners to accommodate the extra cost to be borne for changing the design.
The contractors - Chinese company Sinohydro Corporation and two Bangladeshi firms - last year won the bid to widen the existing highway into a four-lane one by 2013 at a cost of Tk 23.4 billion.
The government has terminated the Pakistani consultant of the Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane project in the middle of its field-level preparation work for 'unsatisfactory' performances.
Roads and Highways Department (RHD) terminated the contract of National Engineering Services Pakistan (NESPAK) on May 18, just before starting the Tk 23.82 billion project's supervision works.
Officials said the NESPAK who won the bidding for both design and supervision works of the highway widening project in 2006 could not meet the requirements including providing manpower and design development supports.
They said there were allegations of non-cooperation against the firm with the executing agency RHD since works of the four-lane project began this February after almost four years of stoppage due to various reasons.
"The government has taken the right and timely decision to complete the important project properly. We had to take the decision, as the appointment of the consultant for the Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane project was not done with proper evaluation," said project director Mohammad Mafizul Islam.
Allaying fear of delay in implementing the project, the PD said the department has already taken steps to appoint new consultant to carry out its supervision works by this October.
"We have terminated the firm at such a stage that the decision is expected to reinforce the project," he said. "We have to change the design of the four-lane project several times and could not get necessary officials from the consulting firm to carry out the project mobilization works due to their indifferent attitude," he told the FE.
NESPAK has so far spent Tk 89 million to carry design works. But it has been demanding revision of the contract to increase their consultancy fees to Tk 390 million on the ground of delay by four years, which the government did not agree.
Plans to expand the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway into four lanes were initiated in 2004, but the bidding process was cancelled twice - in 2006 and in 2008 - due to alleged unfair practices.
The PD said the department has taken moves to appoint new consultant at a fixed budget of Tk 236 million to carry out the supervision part of the work.
The government has already revised the project cost of Dhaka-Chittagong Highway four-lane project to Tk 23.82 billion, 43 per cent up from the proposal of the bid winners to accommodate the extra cost to be borne for changing the design.
The contractors - Chinese company Sinohydro Corporation and two Bangladeshi firms - last year won the bid to widen the existing highway into a four-lane one by 2013 at a cost of Tk 23.4 billion.