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A consortium of Japanese and South Korean firms is going to get the job for constructing the third terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA) at a much higher cost than the initial estimate as the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase approved the project on Wednesday.
According to official sources, Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (Caab) has already selected Aviation Consortium Dhaka (ACD) as the lowest bidder through a tender process where another Japanese firm Shimizu-ITD-JVG JV was a contender.
About the approval of the project at a higher cost, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said the committee did not want a further delay since it is a high priority project.
He said the cabinet body approved the proposal with a condition that the ministry concerned will take initiatives to take approval from Ecnec by submitting a revised proposal mentioning in details the additional cost.
The consortium, which has Mitsubishi Corporation, Fujita Corporation and Samsung C&T as its members, offered a contract value of TK 205.98 billion (Tk 20,598 crore) for the work, the sources said.
They said Japanese donor agency Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Bangladesh government will finance the project.
As per the specification of the work, the third passenger terminal will be constructed containing a space of 22,600 square metres along with the terminal equipment, security equipment, new cargo terminal of 41,200 square metres, rapid exit taxiway (north and south) of 22,000 and 29,500 square metres, apron of 498,500 square metres and connecting taxiway of 66,500 square metres, multi-storey car parking of 62,000 square metres and road network, including entry and exit ramps.
Some utility works like water supply system, sewerage treatment plant, intake power plant distribution system, equipment of cargo complex, airfield ground lighting system and hydrant fuel system are also included in the project, the officials said.
They, however, said the quoted price of the selected contractor is 39.3 per cent higher than the approved cost mentioned in the DPP (development project proposal) while 25.7 per cent higher than the government’s estimated price approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec).
However, officials at the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry said the Caab Board of Governors approved the proposal of the ACD and forwarded it to the ministry to place it before the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase for its final approval.
They said the Caab Board, while approving the proposal, took into consideration that it was a priority project of the government and if a new tender is invited for the project due to increased cost, it will be a time-consuming one and the project cost might go up further.
Officials said they will move to sign a contract with the consortium to award the job to the ACD after following the approval of the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase.
Ecnec (Executive Committee of the National Economic Council) in October, 2017 approved ‘Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Dhaka Expansion Project’ to be implemented by June 2022, reports UNB.