Govt turns to Padma bridge consultant for services on expressways
Monday, 25 January 2010
Munima Sultana
The government has decided to appoint the Padma bridge consultancy firm as consultant of the Dhaka elevated expressways (DEE) project bypassing the formal procedure as the authority concerned struggles to handle the complicated tender process in absence of expertise.
Officials said the Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA), the implementing agency of the country's first public-private-partnership (PPP) project, took the decision to appoint the Padma bridge consultancy firm Mausell AECOM Ltd as the DDE consultant to speed up the preparatory work before handling the bidding process including selecting a bidder in the next three months.
The BBA earlier invited pre-qualification (PQ) tender on November 20 to construct the three elevated expressways in the city, the expiry date of which ended on January 20 without submission of any proposal. The PQ tender documents lacked the information necessary for preparing a proj ect proposal, although 18 local and international firms showed keen interest in the project during the pre-bidding meeting on January 12.
The officials said as the authority faced difficulties in taking many important decisions including engineering parameter and design of the elevated roads, information on traffic condition and feasibility of the project due to lack of expertise, it has decided to appoint the New Zealand-based consultancy firm from its existing one firm-pool to work for the project.
The BBA proposal on appointment of DEE consultant is now under consideration of the cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA).
"The CCEA is expected to finalise the decision in its next meeting to be held shortly," said a senior official preferring anonymity. He said the BBA would appoint seven international consultants and five local consultants based on the proposal of the New Zealand-based firm to carry out the work in exchange for a total of US dollar 0.45 million.
Although the appointment of consultants of one government project for another is a deviation from the formal procedure enshrined in the Public Procurement Act (PPA), the official said the government had no other option, but to appoint the firm to help the government out.
The officials said the related law allows the government to appoint a consultant from a single-firm pool in an emergency case.
The elevated expressway project is one of the priorities of the government. The BBA got the approval for inviting PQ tender on October 19 from the CCEA and invited the tender on November 20 giving three months time.
Mausell AECOM Ltd already worked for the DEE project unofficially during the pre-bidding meeting held on January 12. The officials said the BBA would soon form a negotiation committee with representatives from the Local Government Engineering Department and the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) to review the proposal of the Mausell AECOM Ltd and then appoint the consultants after getting nod from the CCEA.
The elevated expressways will be constructed in three phases. In the first phase, 10.80 km road will be constructed from Tejgaon Old Airport to Jatrabari via Sonargaon and Moghbazar. Later two roads will be connected with it.
The government has decided to appoint the Padma bridge consultancy firm as consultant of the Dhaka elevated expressways (DEE) project bypassing the formal procedure as the authority concerned struggles to handle the complicated tender process in absence of expertise.
Officials said the Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA), the implementing agency of the country's first public-private-partnership (PPP) project, took the decision to appoint the Padma bridge consultancy firm Mausell AECOM Ltd as the DDE consultant to speed up the preparatory work before handling the bidding process including selecting a bidder in the next three months.
The BBA earlier invited pre-qualification (PQ) tender on November 20 to construct the three elevated expressways in the city, the expiry date of which ended on January 20 without submission of any proposal. The PQ tender documents lacked the information necessary for preparing a proj ect proposal, although 18 local and international firms showed keen interest in the project during the pre-bidding meeting on January 12.
The officials said as the authority faced difficulties in taking many important decisions including engineering parameter and design of the elevated roads, information on traffic condition and feasibility of the project due to lack of expertise, it has decided to appoint the New Zealand-based consultancy firm from its existing one firm-pool to work for the project.
The BBA proposal on appointment of DEE consultant is now under consideration of the cabinet committee on economic affairs (CCEA).
"The CCEA is expected to finalise the decision in its next meeting to be held shortly," said a senior official preferring anonymity. He said the BBA would appoint seven international consultants and five local consultants based on the proposal of the New Zealand-based firm to carry out the work in exchange for a total of US dollar 0.45 million.
Although the appointment of consultants of one government project for another is a deviation from the formal procedure enshrined in the Public Procurement Act (PPA), the official said the government had no other option, but to appoint the firm to help the government out.
The officials said the related law allows the government to appoint a consultant from a single-firm pool in an emergency case.
The elevated expressway project is one of the priorities of the government. The BBA got the approval for inviting PQ tender on October 19 from the CCEA and invited the tender on November 20 giving three months time.
Mausell AECOM Ltd already worked for the DEE project unofficially during the pre-bidding meeting held on January 12. The officials said the BBA would soon form a negotiation committee with representatives from the Local Government Engineering Department and the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) to review the proposal of the Mausell AECOM Ltd and then appoint the consultants after getting nod from the CCEA.
The elevated expressways will be constructed in three phases. In the first phase, 10.80 km road will be constructed from Tejgaon Old Airport to Jatrabari via Sonargaon and Moghbazar. Later two roads will be connected with it.