Bangladesh Economy: News & Updates

[CaPtAiN_pLaNeT]

Tuesday, October 9, 2012Front Page

Metro rail project to get underway
Ministry expects no further delay, hopes to finish by 2019

Metro rail project to get underway

M Abul Kalam Azad
The metro rail project has finally gathered momentum after nearly three-year delay over change of route with the government deciding to appoint a consultant to prepare a detailed design of the metro rail from Uttara third phase to Motijheel.

Several international companies that have been short-listed for the job now await the approval of Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), the lone donor of the $2.7 billion project. Jica pledged 80 percent of the project cost.

Officials at Jica and the communications ministry said the short-listed companies would soon be asked to submit their technical and financial proposals for the job of preparing the detailed design and supervising the construction.

They said a firm would be selected for the job in two or three months.

Meanwhile, the communications ministry has set a new target for starting the construction work in 2016 and complete it by December 2019. According to the previous plan, the construction work was supposed to begin in 2013 and end in three years.

The delay has increased the project cost from $1.7 billion to $2.7 billion.

The government is now ready to start loan negotiation with Jica in December as both sides are very sincere about moving fast with the 20.1 kilometre metro rail project.

The problem over the installation of a depot for the project is about to end with the selection of 22 hectares of private land near Uttara third phase. Officials said the acquisition of land for the depot would begin soon.

The metro rail project, the second largest after the $2.9 billion Padma bridge project, became uncertain last year when the metro route was modified the second time following Air Force's objection. The route running across Bijoy Sarani was diverted towards Khamarbari and the change in route irked Jica.

A change in the route was first made in 2010 to avoid overlapping with the under-construction Gulistan-Jatrabari flyover.

Jica, however, did not desert the project and waited for the government to finalise the route, find a place for the depot and form a company that will eventually operate the metro rail.

Earlier, Jica conducted a study on metro rail, and according to the study, the metro rail will operate every three minutes and carry 60,000 passengers an hour.

Acting Communications Secretary MAN Siddique said there would be no further delay in the project.

“All the necessary things for the project such as appointment of design consultant, acquisition of land for the depot, setting up of a company are on track.”

Jica officials in Dhaka refused to comment on the project before the loan negotiation is done between the government and Jica.

Experts said it would take at least two years to prepare the detailed design and another three to five years to finish the project.

 

[idune]

When Awami League minister says something we need to worry about that and discount it as political hoax. We have seen how Padma bridge project was almost destroyed by Awami League corruption and big lie. Unless and until Japan says project fund is approved and project is ready to go awami fanboys spam only mean diddly squat.

 

[Zabaniyah]

Very unlikely if that'd happen.

 

[mb444]

Pigs will fly sooner.....BAL bs.... Entertaining however reading it over a relaxing Shisha as I am doing now however...

 

[CaPtAiN_pLaNeT]

Dhaka-Chittagong Highway to be 4-lane by next year


Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS)

DHAKA, Oct 13, 2012 (BSS) - The construction work of Dhaka- Chittagong Highway Four-Lane Project is progressing in full-swing
with a target of completing it within the schedule by the next year.

"The main work of widening of the 192-KM Dhaka-Chittagong Highway into four lanes with earth filing is now going on in full swing," an official familiar with the process told BSS today.

"Taking into consideration the highway as the lifeline of the country's economy, the upgrading of busy highway into four lanes will be completed as per schedule, if the current pace of work continues without any disruption," the official added.

He said that the high ups in the government also asked the authorities concerned to complete the project and directed them
to ensure quality construction work accelerating its pace of
implementation.

About 42-km of the highway will be transformed into four- lane one by December this year while another 80-km by next March and the total work by the next year, the official added.

He said around 35 percent work of the project had already been completed till the first week of October.

The project was initiated in 2006 to upgrade the highways
into four lanes at an estimated cost of Taka 2,382 crore, but the
BNP-Jamaat alliance government failed to finalise the scheme.

After assumption of power in 2009, the Awami League-led grant alliance government of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had entered deals in January 2010 with a Chinese company and two Bangladeshi firms to complete the project within schedule.

Project Manager of the four-lane project Shamsuddin Ahmed told BSS that around 27 percent construction work of the 21- kilometre Daudkandi- Kutumbpur portion of the highway has been completed and the remaining part will be completed by September next year.

Construction of 145 culverts out of a total 220 of the project has already been completed and 17 small bridges are being built at present.

Besides, the official said the project involves construction of six major bridges, three flyovers, two underpasses, 21 small and medium bridges, 33 steel foot over bridges and six bus stoppages between Daudkandi Toll Plaza to Chittagong City Gate.

Some officials of Roads and Highways Department said expansion of Dhaka-Chittagong Highway, regarded as the country's economic lifeline, was essential as the highway cannot accommodate around 30,000 vehicles a day.

 

[CaPtAiN_pLaNeT]

 

[gslv mk3]

192 kms of 4 lane highway and they are cheering...

On an another thread some Bd members were making fun of a village road in India saying thats how all indian roads look like....

how many 4 lane highways do BD have???

 

[scholseys]

back on topic. At first i heard metro was going to be built by 2015, then 2017 and now its 2019. This government has no clue. Its almost a 3 billion dollar project, this government cant even finance the damn padma bridge project. All false promises. Only way out of this government is to put them all in a freaking boat to India using the Bay of Bengal 500 meters before entering India, BNS bangabandhu should be used to blow up the god damn boat. A poetic justice for the people of Bangladesh.

 

[scholseys]

192 kms of hihway is a lot for Bangladesh, anymore and we would land in bay of bengal or India. You don't want us to recleaim our west Bengal and Assam from Indian occupation do you?

 

[scholseys]

self delete.......

 

[djsjs]

metro projects are large and difficult for any country .best wishes to Bangladesh.
hope indians not laugh at them.your metros are just so so....

 

[eastwatch]

metro projects are large and difficult for any country .best wishes to Bangladesh.
hope indians not laugh at them.your metros are just so so....

Not only the GoB but also some PDF members like fancy underground metro system without understanding that a combined overground and overhead system is what a poor country like Bd requires. JICA rejected in the very beginning the suggestion of building underground along the entire length. However, it agreed to build small tunnels if and when required. Japan is footing the bill, about 80% of entire cost of $2.7 billion, a big money. An full length underground could have cost more than $8 billion (assumed).

In case of Japan in the late 18th Century, the British engineers built only a stretch of about 10 km of over ground railway track from Shimbashi (in Tokyo) to Sakuragicho (in Yokohama). But, the ioneering Japanese civil engineers without a formal education in engineering learned from the British and started expansion by their own. Today, Japan has about 27,000 km of railroad.

Japan has always been like this. This is why it has developed to a level that surpasses many of european countries. I wonder, when Bd will ever 'Look East' and learn how the Japanese had learned technology from the Europeans and Americans.

 

[animelive]

metro projects are large and difficult for any country .best wishes to Bangladesh.
hope indians not laugh at them.your metros are just so so....

everything has a beginning, son

 

[gslv mk3]

metro projects are large and difficult for any country .best wishes to Bangladesh.
hope indians not laugh at them.your metros are just so so....

so so what?????
I know chinese have more metro systems than India....but we are building a lot of them.....

 

[Avisheik]

Bangladesh to get duty-free market access to Belarus


Belarus government is going to give duty-free access of Bangladeshi products to its market, and as a result, local products will get free access to Russia and Kazakhstan, two other Russian Federation countries.

Belarus Prime Minister Mikhail V. Myasnikovich gave the assurance during his meeting with Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni at Hotel Sonargaon on Sunday.

Myasnikovich has also shown interest in investing in Bangladesh’s agriculture sector. He expressed the interest at another meeting with Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury last night.

The Belarus premier arrived in Dhaka earlier in the day on a three-day official visit.

A special flight carrying the Belarus premier touched down at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 2:40pm. He was given a red-carpet reception on his arrival. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina welcomed him at the VVIP tarmac.

Cabinet members, the cabinet secretary, prime minister’s principal secretary and the press secretary, chiefs of army, navy and air force and other high officials were aslo present .

The Belarus Prime Minister was given guard of honour there and a tiny tot presented him a flower bouquet.

It is the first tour of Bangladesh by a Belarus prime minister after diplomatic relationship was established between the two countries in 1991. Some 10 agreements are likely to be signed during the visit of the Belarus prime minister.

After the formalities at the Airport, Myasnikovich and his entourage members were taken to Hotel Sonargaon where they will be staying during the visit.

At around 4:30 in the afternoon, he went to the National Mausoleum at Savar and paid floral tribute to the independence martyrs. A deft team of the Armed Forces gave him guard of honour there.

He stood there one minute in silence in honour of the freedom fighters. Later, he planted a sapling of coral tree on the National Mausoleum premises and signed the visitor’s book. He left the Mausoleum area at around 5pm.

In May last, Foreign Minister Dr Dipu Moni visited Belarus when she signed several Memorendums of Understanding on opening diplomatic mission in both the countries and extending cooperation in different sectors.

Dipu Moni, on behalf of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, also had invited the Belarus prime minister to visit Bangladesh. The Belarus Prime Minister’s ongoing Bangladesh tour is the result of that invitation of the foreign minister.

Today (Monday) Myasnikovich will hold a bilateral meeting with his counterpart Sheikh Hasina and a number of agreements and MoU will be signed following the talks. The leaders will attend a joint press conference following the signing of agreements.

On Tuesday he will participate in a discussion with the teachers and students of Dhaka University at the Senate Bhaban of the university. Thereafter, this he will make a courtesy call on President Mohammad Zillur Rahman. He will leave Dhaka in the evening.

The Republic of Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordering on Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk.

Over forty percent of its 207,600square-kilometre territory is forested, and its strongest economic sectors are service industries and manufacturing.