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The Financial Express

BRT girder collapse: No decision yet on contractor's fate

| Updated: September 09, 2022 20:11:42


BRT girder collapse: No decision yet on contractor's fate

The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) is yet to take any decision on the fate of the Chinese contractor that is allegedly responsible for an accident on August 15 last on a construction site of BRT project in Uttara in the capital, that left five members of a family dead.

The authorities concerned were still working on it with other relevant organisations, officials said.

RHD Chief Engineer AKM Manir Hossain Pathan said they have not yet received the investigation report which was submitted to the Road Transport and Highways Division (RTHD) on September 4.

However, he said, the RHD was working with the project's financier Asian Development Bank (ADB) on the possible actions likely to be taken against the contractor and following international rules.

"We have not yet received the inquiry report, but started working with the ADB," he told the FE over phone.

Mr Pathan said that being an international contract, the RHD will have to follow the ADB guidelines as well as the rules of the International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) - a resolution in the construction sector that the RHD follows in case of any international tender.

Regarding the compensation to the victims, the chief engineer said that though there is a rule to compensate the victim's family, it is still undecided whether the amount should be provided to all the victims together or each of the victims.

Around Tk 20 million are guided for the compensation, he added.

The FE had talks with the Dhaka BRT company officials, project officials and construction supervision consultant (CSC) sources.

Instead of taking any action, it found, the authorities concerned were using the committee findings as tools to put pressure on the Chinese contractor China Gezhouba Group Company (CGGC).

Though the accident took place at the RHD's part, the BRT project is also struggling to cope with another Chinese contractor which is working under the Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA).

Jiangsu Provincial Transportation Engineering Groups (JPTEG) Co Ltd is the contractor of the 4.5-kilometre road being constructed under the 20.1 km BRT corridor from Joydevpur crossing to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (HSIA).

Managing Director of Dhaka BRT Company and Project Directors of RHD and BBA parts said that they were working on only one issue of 100 per cent safety compliance before any construction work begins.

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