Posted on October 24, 2016
By Pankaj Dastider, FE Financial Express
The Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) is likely to resume its Karnaphuli River capital dredging work soon after three years of suspension following legal complexities.
After getting green signal from the Ministry of Law (MoL), CPA has proceeded with the project, and appointed consultants from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). It is reported that the BUET team has also started work on the project.
CPA member (admin and planning) Zafar Alam said there is no legal bar in resuming the Karnaphuli dredging work, as the vetting of MoL in this regard has reached CPA.
Report of the BUET consultants is likely to come by the end of this month, following which CPA will start tender process for the project.
He, however, said it is yet to be decided whether contractor for the Karnaphuli capital dredging will be selected through open tender method (OTM) or direct procurement method (DPM).
In April 2011, CPA issued a work order for the river dredging and other related work to Malaysia Maritime and Dredging Corporation at a cost of Tk 2.30 billion.
Under the project the contracting firm was assigned to dredge 3.6 million cubic metre of alluvial deposits, construction of 400 metre jetty, 2,615 metre embankment, and a 10-metre broad walkway beside the embankment.
The project was scheduled to be completed by 2013. The contract was further extended to June 2014, as the firm failed to finish the work as per schedule.
But the Malaysian firm and its local agent stopped work in August 2013, leaving the project incomplete. CPA deducted Tk 395.5 million from the contract amount, as the contractor failed to complete the work.
Later, in July 2014 the firm filed a writ petition with the High Court, seeking stay order on the work. Subsequently, both the contractor and CPA appointed arbitrators to settle the issue, but it remained unresolved.
As the case remained pending with the court, the capital dredging could not be resumed. The dredged portion of the river got silted again following suspension of dredging over the last three years.
Meanwhile, CPA sought vetting from MoL, which opined last week that capital dredging could be resumed. CPA earlier appointed the BUET consultants to conduct study on the present situation of the dredging and other work.
CPA officials said among the four components of the project, general work was fully completed, while 42 per cent of dredging, 97 per cent of jetty construction, and 87 per cent of bank protection were completed.
Source: FE Financial Express
