Pvt firm selection process on

Shamsul Huda | Published: December 25, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00

The process of selecting private firm for building the four-lane Dhaka bypass road from Joydevpur to Madanpur is progressing, sources said.
In this connection the Public Private Partnership (PPP) office is going to issue request for qualification (RFQ) in February.
Earlier, the PPP office invited registration of interest (ROI) from the private firms on November 20 and its deadline expired on Wednesday (December 24).
The government proposed to construct the 48 kilometre-long controlled access toll road along with private investments.
The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) under the Ministry of Communications is the implementing authority of the project.
The RFQ is coming just after a month at the expiry of the submission date for ROI Wednesday, a PPP official said.
With the increasing number of vehicles in the existing two-lane bypass from Joydevpur to Madanpur, the government has taken the initiative to build the road under PPP aiming to shorten distance, reduce travel time and avoid accidents.
The controlled access toll road will link N4 (Joydevpur-Jamalpur Highway) and N1 (Dhaka-Chittagong Highway). As a result transportation between Southern and Northern districts will get a boost.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the PPP office Syed Afsar Uddin said until December 23, a day before the closing date, a total of 10 parties have submitted their proposals.
He said in the ROI the interested parties have quoted their competency, capability, skill and solvency stating that they are eligible for doing business under PPP arrangements.
The bypass highway project includes a four-lane and a two-lane service roads.
According to sources, the bypass highway would give a faster access to the vehicles moving from Gazipur to Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Sylhet highways.
As per the feasibility study, vehicular pressure from Gazipur towards the Southern parts of the country would increase by more than 35 per cent in the next five years.
To ease the pressure, the bypass road would give access to the vehicles moving from North to South bypassing the capital city.
A RHD official said the project's cost has been estimated at $ 350 million to $ 400 million and it would be fully funded by private party investments.
He said, "We have chosen PPP in constructing the bypass as it is estimated that private investment would be viable in building the toll access roads as investors would get return in more than 20 years' time."
MMM Group, a Canada-based consulting firm, along with other local firms is working for the project's feasibility study in cooperation with the PPP office.
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