Tk 10000cr project to develop road network, embankments
Two four-lane roads-cum-embankments forming parts of an outer ring road will be developed along the coast and the river Karnaphuli with the assistance of Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).
JBIC has already started the process of providing assistance in a TK 10,000 crore project to develop the road network and flood protection embankments in the port city.
Chittagong Development Authority (CDA) will coordinate the project to be implemented by the government with the financial assistance from Japan.
Two Japanese firms Nippon Engineering and Japan Engineering Consultant, heve been appointed through an international tenders held in Tokyo on April 20 for implementing the project.
To prepare design, time schedule, financial estimate, tender documents of the project, a 14-member team comprising expert and engineers is scheduled to start work from June 11.
A seven-member team of Japanese experts and engineers led by Kazihiro Hassigawa of Nippon Engineering will conduct the Special Assistance for Project Formation (SAPROF) study involving around Tk 10 crore.
JBIC will carry out the study from its temporary office at CDA building, sources said.
JBIC Chief Representative Yasuo Fujita on May 21 confirmed the date for SAPROF study on Chittagong city ring road project.
Duration of the study is six months and the team will submit its final report by November, said Fujita.
Fujita requested CDA chairman to provide office space, equipments, secretarial services and necessary cooperation to the SAPROF team.
To assist in overall development of infrastructure and road network under a private sector infrastructure investment project, JBIC carried out a feasibility study in two phases in 2005 and 2006, sources said.
It signed an agreement with the Economic Relation Division (ERD) in August last year to conduct a study under a project titled “Multi-sector Infrastructure Development in Chittagong ”.
JBIC conducted the study in cooperation with CDA, for construction of a riverside road along the Karnaphuli stretching from Sadarghat Strand Road to Kalurghat bridge under flood protection embankment project; construction of the 4th Karnaphuli bridge on the upstream and a road linking the bridge with Oxygen-Quish road and Kalurghat bridge under Chittagong bypass and road construction project; and a 12km road stretching from Patenga to Faujderhat under coastal road and embankment project.
JBIC submitted the study report in February and signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the government in March for construction of the riverside road and coastal embankment-cum road involving Tk 10,000 crore.
Under the project the four-lane coastal embankment-cum-marine driveway stretching from Patenga to Faujderhat will be constructed with a 100m width while its height will be raised by another 3 meters, CDA Chairman Shah Muhammad Akhter Uddin told this correspondent at his office on Monday.
The four-lane riverside road to be constructed along the Karnaphuli stretching from Kalurghat to Sadarghat under the same project would have the same length and width, he added.
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