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Fund Release for Metro Rail

Jica asks govt to fix pending issues

Tawfique Ali
Jica, the funding agency of metro rail, has asked the government to resolve the project's outstanding issues so that it can release fund for the $2.7 billion venture in the current fiscal year.
The lone financier is to provide 80 percent cost of the 20.1-kilometre metro rail as soft loan. The rail route will stretch from Uttara third phase to Bangladesh Bank in Motijheel.
The urge from Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) has brought some hope for the project as it has seen almost no progress since September last.
The government now has to approve the Khamarbari route and form a special project organisation (SPO) within this month to hold loan negotiation in March.
Besides, it needs to make tangible progress in land acquisition for relocation of metro depot along with forming Dhaka Mass Transport Company (DMTC) by May, said sources in Jica.
"The SPO should be in place by mid-January while the alternative route needs to be approved by the end of this month," said a Jica official requesting anonymity.
Apart from this, the newly formed railway ministry has now expressed the desire to implement the project as per rules of business, said sources.
The Bridge Division of the communications ministry has so far been pursuing negotiation on the metro rail with Jica, which does not want the rail ministry to implement the project.
The government also has to address this issue immediately.
The fourth fact-finding team of Jica during its visit in
December last year brought these issues up with the government. The previous three teams of Jica also raised these requirements time and again since January last, but the government has made little progress to expedite the project procedure.
Prof Md Shamsul Hoque, a member of technical committee on metro project, said it was really very difficult to meet the prerequisites and achieve the goal of loan negotiation within the given timeframe.
"The government should have given more attention to the project. The more the preparation is delayed the project will face more obstructions which may lead to further difficulty and uncertainty," he said.
SM Saleh Uddin, executive director of Dhaka Transport Coordination
Board, the owning agency of the metro project, said the proposal for route approval is with the communications ministry. It needs the nod from the cabinet, he added.
On SPO, Saleh Uddin said seven officials, including him as the managing director, have been designated for it, but as per Jica requirement the SPO needs eight more members.
According to him, the formation of DMTC would take at least a year's time.
Meanwhile, the relocated metro depot requires acquisition of 22 hectares of private land to the north of Uttara third phase model town. This would need a comprehensive Environment and Social Impact Assessment and noobjection from the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha.
Saleh Uddin said they are
estimating the land required and evaluating the proposed site.
Asked why they had not already got the alternative route approved, he said it was delayed as they were busy with many other jobs.
The complication with the metro route arose when Bangladesh Air Force objected to the Bijoy Sarani section of the route on the grounds that the 19-metre-high metro rail would hinder operations at Tejgaon airfield. It pressed for diversion of the route along Sangsad Avenue through Khamarbari.
Experts in this field termed the objection unfounded and said if diverted, the metro rail would encroach upon the Sangsad Bhaban complex, a world renowned architectural site, to a great extent.