The government has appointed a joint venture of several Europe and Bangladesh-based firms to supervise the ongoing construction of the Padma Water Treatment Plant, being implemented by a Chinese company.
The Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase yesterday approved the proposal from the Local Government Division for appointing the consultants.
The joint venture comprise leading European consultants M/S Grontmij A/S and its sub-consultants AQUA Consultants Limited, based in the UK, and the BETS Consulting Ltd and the Institute of Water Modelling, both based in Bangladesh.
Sources at the Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) Ministry told the Dhaka Tribune that the proposal was placed before the cabinet committee in November 2013 but failed to get approval for several reasons.
The government has decided to appoint the consultants after allegations were raised that project cost had been shot up by 10% because of Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa)’s failures in negotiation.
A Wasa engineer told the Dhaka Tribune: “Despite being a government-to-government project, Wasa has failed to negotiate properly and added around Tk350 crore to the total cost.”
With an aim to relax dependence on underground water, the government is implementing the Padma Water
Treatment Plant that will produce 450 million litre water per day to meet the ever increasing demand for water in Dhaka.
Under the Tk3,508 crore project, a 30km pipeline will be laid to supply treated water to the city dwellers. Starting in January 2013, the project is expected to be completed by June 2016.
