Row over selection of contractor

Roads and Highways Department (RHD) is yet to pick a contractor for carrying out the development work of Elenga-Hatikamrul-Rangpur Highway due to conflicting opinions of the project's financier and the authority concerned.
Sources said the tender evaluation committee (TEC) of RHD selected a Chinese company, the second lowest bidder, for the Tk 118.99 billion project last year following the guidelines of Asian Development Bank (ADB).
But the cabinet committee on government purchase (CCGP) turned down the recommendation put forward by RHD.
Sources said the CCGP sat twice this year to settle the issue. At the meeting held on April 28, it finally recommended that the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges (MoRTB) reconsider the lowest bidder Abdul Monem Ltd.
The firms-Sino Hydro Corporation and Abdul Monem- were the first two bidders for package-5 to carry out work of 13-kilometre four-lane road out of the 190-km highway corridor known as South Asia Sub-regional Economic Cooperation (SASEC)-II.
Sources said the ADB's recommendation was linked with the government's recent notification to select the contractor based on the tender capacity as Abdul Monem is involved in a good number of projects.
Abdul Monem Ltd has already been selected for constructing a 28-km road of Elenga-Hatikamrul-Rangpur highway upgrading project. Besides, it is working on several RHD projects including SASEC-I and Kalna bridge construction under its cross-border road development project.
On the other hand, the 2nd lowest bidder-- Sino Hydro Corporation- is involved in the 3rd Shitalakhya bridge construction. It completed the Dhaka-Chattogram four-lane project amid lots of troubles.
But both the contractors are engaged in several expensive projects including metro rail and Padma Bridge along with other agencies.
The difference between the proposals of the two firms is Tk 650 million.
Ministry sources said the CCGP recommended that the MoRTB look into the company's turnover of the lowest bidders and sent the proposal with bank guarantees and comments of the company about their capacity.
RHD also sought support from the Central Procurement Technical Unit (CPTU) early August to resolve the issue, sources added.
Project Director Quazi Shahriar, however, declined to comment on the issue as it is still under evaluation.
RHD has taken up the Tk 118.99 billion Elenga-Hatikamrul-Rangpur highway upgrading project as part of its move to develop a regional corridor under the Asian Highway, SASEC and BIMSTEC.
It has already awarded the works of all nine packages but yet to start the construction work on any of these packages due to incompletion of land acquisition.
Work on package-5 starts from Elenga to the eastern side of Bangabandhu Jamuna Bridge.

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