Contractor’s cash crunch slows down BRT-3 Elevated Part project

Highlights:

       Progress of BRT-3 Elevated Part till November 2021:

• Supposed to be done: 70.74%.
• Actually done: 59.33%.
• The Chinese contractor's cash shortage has been hindering the work.

       Progress in Elevated Expressway till November:

• First phase (Airport to Banani railway station): 70.76%
• Second phase (Banani railway station to Moghbazar): 24.49%.
• The public-private partnership project progresses as per expectation.

Bus Rapid Transit Line-3 (BRT-3) Elevated Part, a project that is being implemented by the Bangladesh Bridge Authority in Dhaka, has been progressing slowly as the Chinese contractor in charge of its construction was suffering from a cash shortage.

Meanwhile, the Elevated Expressway, another project being implemented by the Bangladesh Bridge Authority in the capital, has been advancing well as it was taken under a public–private partnership with the Italian-Thai Development Public Company.

Regarding the projects, Bridges Division Secretary Md Abu Bakar Siddique told TBS, "The BRT-3 project failed to meet its progress target because of the Chinese company Jiangsu Provincial Transportation Engineering Groups (JPTEG) Co Ltd, which won the contract through a tendering process. Their lack of financial capacity has slowed down the project."

"On the other hand, the Elevated Expressway is progressing fast as there is pressure from the private partner," he added.

Bus Rapid Transit line-3 (BRT-3) Elevated Part

The project implementing agency planned to complete 70.74% of the 4.5km elevated portion of BRT-3 project as of November this year, but it progressed 59.33% by that time.

Md Mohirul Islam Khan, project director of the BRT-3 Elevated Part, pointed out several reasons for the delay in its implementation.

Md Mohirul Islam Khan said the main cause of the delay in the project is a disruption in cash flow of the Chinese contractor.

"We have already sent a notice to the contractor to speed up the work. Besides, on 30 October, road transport and bridges ministry officials, Asian Development Bank representatives and officials of the Chinese firm sat in a meeting, where the contractor assured us to speed up the work to finish it on time," said the project director.

"We have also sent the contractor a warning letter saying that actions will be taken if they fail to make significant progress by next June next year," said Mohirul.

The BRT Elevated Part project director further said the process of relocating the utility connections from the project site is also slowing down their work.

Besides, the huge traffic flow on the Dhaka-Gazipur route during the rush hour is also hindering the construction as the project implementer can work from 12am till morning.

"We need to work round-the-clock to finish the job on time and that's why we are taking measures to open a diversion road," said Mohirul.  

Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Bridge Authority has revised the project proposal for the BRT-3 elevated part for the third time in October this year. In the revised proposal, the project cost increased by Tk11.51 crore – from Tk1,225.43 crore to Tk1,236.95 crore.

Regarding revision in the proposal, Mohirul Islam said, "Adjusting the increased cost is a regular process. Earlier, the import duty for the machinery and materials needed for the project was Tk5 crore while currently the duty is Tk40 crore."

The government took up the BRT-3 project that stretches from Joydebpur in Gazipur to the Airport area in Dhaka in 2012. It was scheduled to be completed by the end of 2019, but designing and planning took around two years and finally the work began in 2018. The project is scheduled to be completed by December 2022.

Elevated Expressway

Elevated Expressway Project Director AHMS Aktar said, "We have a plan to open a portion (Airport to Tejgaon railway gate) of the expressway for traffic in December next year. We are working hard to achieve the goal."

"So far our progress has been satisfactory. Till November, the first phase (Airport to Banani railway station) progressed 70.76% and the second phase (from Banani railway station to Moghbazar rail crossing) 24.49%. At the moment, the project's overall progress is 35.42%," he said.

Asked if there are any challenges, the Elevated Expressway project director said there is no problem in the project's first two phases. But in the third phase (from Moghbazar rail crossing to Kutubkhali on the Dhaka-Chattogram highway), complications have arisen regarding the alignment with the Kamalapur railway station."

"A committee of railway and bridge officials is working in this regard. Hopefully the issue will be resolved soon," he said.

"If no other disaster like the pandemic hits, the construction of the entire 46.73 km Elevated Expressway – 19.73 km expressway and around 27 km of ramps – from Airport to Kutubkhali will be completed by June 2023," he said.

The Bangladesh Bridge Authority inked an agreement with Italian-Thai Development Public Company in January 2011 to build the expressway, but the deal was revised to incorporate some changes in the design and a fresh contract was signed in December 2013.

Due to different problems including a cash crisis of the company, the project work could not be started immediately after signing the contract and it started on 1 January, 2020.