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Each truck to pay $16 as toll to cross Padma Bridge initially
New Age | Newspaper
Shakhawat Hossain
Malaysia likely to give a final proposal on May 28
Each truck will have to pay US$16 as toll to cross the proposed Padma Bridge in the initial years and almost double in 2030 as per condition of a Malaysian consortium willing to take up the mega infrastructure project.
The consortium which submitted an initial proposal last February projected that the toll for a car will be $10 dollar and a bus around $20 in the initial years.
The toll rates which will be increased gradually over the next fifty years have been calculated on the basis of joint study by AECOM, a consultant for the Padma Bridge project, and the
Bangladesh Bridge Authority, the main implementing agency of the proposed 6.1 kilometre long rail-cum-road bridge.
The existing toll rate of Bangabandhu Multipurpose Bridge, formerly known as the Jamuna Bridge, for a truck is Tk 850 or around $10. The bridge authority charges Tk 500 or $ 5.9 for a car.
Bangladesh has already struck a memorandum of understanding with the Malaysian government to carry forward the project in addition to its deal with multilateral donors led by the World Bank on the same project.
The government was forced to sign the MoU with Malaysia for the alternative funding source after the WB kept suspended the release of its committed $1.2 billion loan for the last 10 months on allegation of corruption in the tender bidding process.
Padma Bridge project director Shafiqul Alam told New Age on Sunday that they were expecting final proposal from Malaysia soon.
He said a special envoy, Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu, of Malaysia is scheduled to meet communication minister Obaidul Quader on May 28. The Padma Bridge funding will be top on the agenda of talks, he added.
A communication ministry official, however, said toll rates are likely to remain unchanged in the final proposal by Malaysia. He said it is unlikely that Malaysia would lower the tariff rates.
The communication minister on Sunday told reporters that the government would scrutinize the next Malaysian proposal thoroughly before taking the final decision.
The interest of the people and the country will be given top consideration while examining the Malaysian proposals, he said after a meeting with visiting Asian Development Bank executive director Ashok Kumar Lahiri at his secretariat office.
Experts have already observed that the initial proposals given by the Malaysian consortium would not be viable for the country.
Former caretaker government adviser Akbar Ali Khan said the government would face problem in future to service the huge debt liabilities.
The Kuala Lumpur-based consortium will take loan from the international money market on high interest rate to construct the bridge and realize the investment from tolls over the next fifty years.
It attached half a dozen conditions including guarantee of subsidy for lower-than-expected earnings and quarterly forecast on traffic flow for 25 years, duty-free import of construction materials and unchanged duty and tax structure.
Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies research director Zaid Bakth suggested that the government should be more careful in dealing with the investment proposal by the KL-based consortium.
He said total investment and payback period are very critical.
The consortium comprising Kuala Lumpur-based infrastructure companies UEM Holdings, Binapuri and Eversendai Corporation Bhd proposed that they needed to investment $5.5 billion for constriction and servicing the bridge till 2050.
It also projected that they will realise $9.8 billion to 11.9 billion during the same period of time from tolls.
New Age | Newspaper
Shakhawat Hossain
Malaysia likely to give a final proposal on May 28
Each truck will have to pay US$16 as toll to cross the proposed Padma Bridge in the initial years and almost double in 2030 as per condition of a Malaysian consortium willing to take up the mega infrastructure project.
The consortium which submitted an initial proposal last February projected that the toll for a car will be $10 dollar and a bus around $20 in the initial years.
The toll rates which will be increased gradually over the next fifty years have been calculated on the basis of joint study by AECOM, a consultant for the Padma Bridge project, and the
Bangladesh Bridge Authority, the main implementing agency of the proposed 6.1 kilometre long rail-cum-road bridge.
The existing toll rate of Bangabandhu Multipurpose Bridge, formerly known as the Jamuna Bridge, for a truck is Tk 850 or around $10. The bridge authority charges Tk 500 or $ 5.9 for a car.
Bangladesh has already struck a memorandum of understanding with the Malaysian government to carry forward the project in addition to its deal with multilateral donors led by the World Bank on the same project.
The government was forced to sign the MoU with Malaysia for the alternative funding source after the WB kept suspended the release of its committed $1.2 billion loan for the last 10 months on allegation of corruption in the tender bidding process.
Padma Bridge project director Shafiqul Alam told New Age on Sunday that they were expecting final proposal from Malaysia soon.
He said a special envoy, Datuk Seri S Samy Vellu, of Malaysia is scheduled to meet communication minister Obaidul Quader on May 28. The Padma Bridge funding will be top on the agenda of talks, he added.
A communication ministry official, however, said toll rates are likely to remain unchanged in the final proposal by Malaysia. He said it is unlikely that Malaysia would lower the tariff rates.
The communication minister on Sunday told reporters that the government would scrutinize the next Malaysian proposal thoroughly before taking the final decision.
The interest of the people and the country will be given top consideration while examining the Malaysian proposals, he said after a meeting with visiting Asian Development Bank executive director Ashok Kumar Lahiri at his secretariat office.
Experts have already observed that the initial proposals given by the Malaysian consortium would not be viable for the country.
Former caretaker government adviser Akbar Ali Khan said the government would face problem in future to service the huge debt liabilities.
The Kuala Lumpur-based consortium will take loan from the international money market on high interest rate to construct the bridge and realize the investment from tolls over the next fifty years.
It attached half a dozen conditions including guarantee of subsidy for lower-than-expected earnings and quarterly forecast on traffic flow for 25 years, duty-free import of construction materials and unchanged duty and tax structure.
Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies research director Zaid Bakth suggested that the government should be more careful in dealing with the investment proposal by the KL-based consortium.
He said total investment and payback period are very critical.
The consortium comprising Kuala Lumpur-based infrastructure companies UEM Holdings, Binapuri and Eversendai Corporation Bhd proposed that they needed to investment $5.5 billion for constriction and servicing the bridge till 2050.
It also projected that they will realise $9.8 billion to 11.9 billion during the same period of time from tolls.
