& çâÌæÚUæð´ ·¤è ¥ôÚU Îð¹Ùæ ÁæÚUè ÚU¹ð´ ¥ÍæüÌ ¥ÂÙð ÜÿØ ÂÚU ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´Ð ãæÚU Ù ×æÙð´, €UØô´ç·¤ ·¤æ× ·¤ÚUÙð âð ¥æÂ·¤ô ©gðàØ ·¤è Âýæç# ãôÌè ãñ ¥õÚU ÁèßÙ ·¤æ ¹æÜèÂÙ ÎêÚU ãôÌæ ãñÐ ÖÜð ãè ÁèßÙ ×ð´ ç·¤ÌÙè Öè ·¤çÆÙæ§ü €UØô´ Ù ¥æ°, çÁ™ææâæ ¥õÚU ©ˆâæã ÕÙæ° ÚU¹ð´Ð ŠØæÙ ÚU¹ð´, ÜÿØ ã×ðàææ ¥æÂ·Ô¤ Âæâ ãôÌð ãñ´ çÁ‹ãð´ ÂæÙð ·Ô¤ çÜ° ÂýØæâ ¥æÂ ·¤Öè Öè àæéM¤ ·¤ÚU â·¤Ìð ãñ´Ð

Ruposhi Bangla renovations kick off finally

Reopening may be delayed as repairs did not begin on time

Sarwar A Chowdhury
The much-awaited renovation work at Ruposhi Bangla has finally gotten off the ground, but the two-month delay still poses the risk of derailing the project timescale.
The reason for the delay was the failure to award the contract for the first phase of renovation work on time.
But the contract has now been signed on January 26 with Charuta Private Ltd. The company has already started the ground work at the project site such as shed construction for labourers and gathering heavy equipment including crane, concrete batching plant, containers and jackhammer with excavator.
The first phase of the renovation work, which includes site preparation, perimeter hoarding, stripping of hotel facade and fixture, will be completed within 135 days from the date of official handover of the hotel building, said Shahidus Sadeque, marketing and communication manager of the state-owned five-star hotel.
The work for the second phase, which involves electro mechanical work, will begin soon after the partial completion of first phase.
Similarly, the third phase that includes interior fit-out work of public area, rooms, back of the house, kitchen, laundry and signage will begin soon after preparation of installation by second phase contractor, he said.
Asked if the delay will lead to miss the reopening deadline, he said: "Although it has been delayed, we are hoping that we can complete the renovation work within the expected timeframe."
As per the work schedule, a total of 16 months have been allocated to accomplish the entire renovation work - the cost for which has
been fixed at $43 million — before starting the new journey under InterContinental from January 2016.
The renovations, which are part of a 30-year management deal signed in February 2012 between Ruposhi Bangla's owner - the staterun Bangladesh Services Ltd - and InterContinental Hotels Group, were scheduled to take off on November 1 last year.
But due to a wide gap between the price quoted by the lowest bidder and the estimated costs, the authorities failed to wrap up the tendering process in time. However, the issues were settled
later through negotiations.
The hotel was shut on September 1 for early preparation such as asset and equipment disposal, and rearrangement and transfer of employees.
InterContinental had earlier run the iconic Dhaka hotel from 1966 to 1983, after which Sheraton took over. Its contract ended in December 2008 but the government requested it to continue the operations until April 30, 2011 for the ICC Cricket World Cup.
Starwood, the parent company of Sheraton, gave Bangladesh Services Ltd a conditional extension offer in 2009, but there was a
disagreement between the two parties over the renovation cost and the fate of the employees. Eventually, Bangladesh Services took over the hotel's operations, renaming it to Ruposhi Bangla Hotel.
The hotel's revenue in last year was Tk 94 crore, including Tk 76 crore from hotel business in the first eight months, as it was shut on August 31. The net profit for 2014 wasTk28 crore.
Its net profits plunged 59 percent year-on-year to Tk 19 crore in 2013 due to political turmoil. The figure was Tk 46.51 crore in 2012 andTk 40.12 crore in 2011.