The government has sought official development assistance (ODA) credit to construct a sewage treatment plant for purifying polluted water of Hatirjheel.
Hatirjheel is a place in the overcrowded capital whose aesthetic beauty and wide open space which should attract city dwellers to spend their pastime, sources said.
The polluted water now is spewing odour from the contaminated water of the 302-acre project polluting the environment of the area.
"There are offers for the Chinese government's concessional loan and buyers'/suppliers' credit for the Daserkandi water treatment plant. But we are waiting for ODA credit as the former options are too costly," said a senior official of the Local Government Division.
He said the Economic Relations Division (ERD) has been requested to search for ODA credit for the plant.
"Once the plant starts operation, the water of the Begunbari-Hatirjheel project will become purified reducing the bad smell coming out from there."
The official said three Chinese firms have expressed their interest to construct the plant from their government's concessional loan and preferential buyers' credit.
For such kind of credit, Bangladesh will have to pay interest at the rate of 2.0 per cent with 20 years of maturity period. The interest will be charged from the very first day of the loan granted while grace period for the principal will be only five years.
On the other hand, if ODA can be arranged, the interest rate will be 0.75 per cent, having 40 years of maturity period with 10 years of grace period.
Sources said construction of the plant will cost Tk 21 billion out of which the government will pay Tk 4.0 billion. The rest is planned to be mobilised from foreign sources. Construction of the plant is scheduled to begin from January 2014 to December 2016.
Earlier, in January 2011, the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved construction of the plant at only Tk 4.25 billion. The Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (DWASA) later said implementation of the sewage plant project would not be possible with such a small budget.
Sources said the RAJUK (Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha) has requested the Local Government Division for quick implementation of the project.
Officials said the government will go for costly buyers' credit for the plant if ODA could not be arranged considering the urgency of implementation of the project.
The Local Government Division recently asked the DWASA to immediately prepare a draft project proposal for the plant without mentioning the funding source.
"We want quicker implementation of the project for which paper works are under way. Our target is to immediately start the construction work just after the fund is available," said another senior official.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on January 2 formally inaugurated the Hatirjheel-Begunbari integrated development project for public. The project, first of its kind in the capital, had attracted attention of people of all strata of the city because of the open space and its beauty.
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