DHAKA, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Bangladeshi government has decided to float an open invitation for tenders for construction of a metro rail and an elevated expressway in Dhaka at an estimated cost of 150 billion taka (about 2.14 billion U.S. dollars) aiming at addressing the traffic gridlock.
Banglasdesh's Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, the highest body to deal with economic issues, Tuesday gave permission to the Communications Ministry to select pre-qualified investors for final selections, the country's leading English newspaper The Daily Star reported Wednesday.
The Metro rail system and elevated expressway are being talked about at various levels in and outside the Bangladeshi government in the backdrop of mounting everyday sufferings of the dwellers of Dhaka city, whose ill-built road network is reportedly failing to cope with unrestrained growth of vehicles.
The government opted for the metro rail system and elevated expressway after a series of abortive steps to put the city traffic in order.
Communications Minister Abul Hossain told the committee that his ministry intends to complete selecting the pre-qualified bidders for both the Dhaka expressway and metro rail projects within three months, and award the contracts within six months, The Daily Star reported.
To save time during the selection process, it said, the Cabinet committee also approved waiver of some bidding procedures spelled out by the country's Private Infrastructure Committee, Major Termsand Conditions Committee, and Bangladesh Private Sector Infrastructure Guidelines.
After the meeting, Additional Executive Director of the Dhaka Transport Coordination Board (DTCB) SM Salehuddin said for determining the routes there will be no study, as the routes were already selected in the Strategic Transport Plan (STP) for Dhaka, the newspaper reported.
He, however, said the selected pre-qualified companies will conduct studies and the expert committee will review those routes.
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