Tender for SPM project's O&M contractor cancelled

The Advisers Council Committee on Government Purchase (ACCGP) on Tuesday cancelled the tender for appointing an Operations and Maintenance (O&M) contractor for the Single Point Mooring (SPM) project.

The committee approved the cancellation when Energy and Mineral Resources Division placed the proposal at the meeting chaired by Finance Adviser Dr Salehuddin Ahmed at the Secretariat, reports UNB.

Earlier, on November 21, 2024, the government had approved in principle the appointment of China Petroleum Pipeline Engineering Company Ltd (CPPEC) as the O&M contractor on a government-to-government (G2G) basis.

The approval was given in a meeting of the Advisers Council Committee on Economic Affairs (ACCEA).

The CPPEC had been working as the contractor for the SPM project and BPC selected the firm for the O&M job without any competitive bidding process.

The proposal was moved to ACCEA by the Energy and Mineral Resources Division under the Speedy Increase of Power and Energy Supply (Special Provision) Act 2010.

But a few days after the approval, the government repealed the Speedy Increase of Power and Energy Supply (Special Provision) Act 2010 on 1 December following an order from the High Court that removed the scope for signing the contract with the Chinese firm.

The SPM, built on 90 acres of land in Maheshkhali Upazila, Cox's Bazar, is a government-to-government (G2G) initiative between Bangladesh and China.