Ashuganj silo project duration extended for third time

The duration of the construction works of Ashuganj steel rice silo in Brahmanbaria has been extended for the third time till May 2023, which was expected to be fully operational from May this year, due to the delay during the Covid-19 pandemic and the financial crisis of the contractor company.

However, the project director said that although the duration has been extended, the cost of the project will not be increased.

According to people concerned, Toma Construction and Company Limited signed a deal with the authorities to construct the Tk540 crore silo with a capacity to store 105,000 tonnes of grain in 2018. The initial duration of the project was two years.

However, the construction work suffered a major setback during the advent of the Covid-19 pandemic in the country in early 2020 as the shipment of most of the equipment got stuck due to the global supply chain disruption.

Besides, foreign consultants could not come to the country on time due to the pandemic. As a result, the contractor has to stop working for about one year.

The construction work was later resumed on a limited scale with a small number of manpower. But the project did not progress as expected. The progress of the construction work has been only 3% in the last one year.

Meanwhile, the recent increase in the prices of construction materials has now put the contractor company in a financial crisis. According to the agreement, the cost of the project cannot be increased even if the duration is extended. 

The company officials said 75% of the construction work has been completed so far including the installation of all the 30 bins each with a storage capacity of 3,500 tonnes.

The construction of some other infrastructures and installation of machinery is yet to be done.

Nizamul Islam, project manager of Toma Construction and Company Limited, said, "We could not do any work for almost a year due to the pandemic. We could not bring necessary equipment and consultants from abroad at that time. As a result, the completion of the work has been delayed." 

He said that about 80% of the equipment has been imported so far.

"Now we are in trouble due to the increase in the prices of construction materials. We are going through bad times now. We are at a loss. But if the environment is favourable and no other problems arise, we will be able to complete the work in the extended period," said Nizamul Islam.

Rezaul Karim Seikh, director of the Modern Food Silo Project, said, "The construction work of the silo has been slow. The construction work could not be completed on time due to the pandemic. The contractor company also had some financial issues. These have been resolved recently." 

"However, according to the terms of the tender, even if the duration of the project increases, the cost will not increase," he added.

The silo with the facility to store food grain for the longest period of time in South Asia is being constructed along the Meghna River in Brahmanbaria.

Once completed, it would be able to store rice for up to two years by controlling the humidity and temperature through an automatic thermostat. 

There will also be a belt conveying and chain conveying system with a speed of 500 tonnes per hour for packing and bagging the stored rice.

With the joint funding of Bangladesh and the World Bank, the government is constructing eight silos with a capacity of 5.35 lakh tonnes in Dhaka, Chattogram, Khulna, Barishal, Narayanganj, Mymensingh, Tangail, and Brahmanbaria under the modern food storage project to ensure adequate and strong food storage.