Chinese firm chosen to be toll plaza operator of Bangabandhu Tunnel

The government has approved the Bridge Division’s proposal to appoint China Communication Construction Company Ltd (CCCC) for operating the toll plaza of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel beneath the Karnaphuli river, in Chattogram.

The Chinese state-owned company is also the construction contractor of the tunnel.

A cabinet committee meeting---presided over by Finance Minister HM Mustafa Kamal--- on public purchase on Wednesday gave its consent to designate CCCC as the service provider and toll operator of the tunnel.

After the meeting, Cabinet Division additional secretary Md Abdul Barik responded to journalists’ questions.

He said the appointment of the company involves a total of Tk 983.82 crore for a period of five years.

Bangladesh Bridge Authority (BBA) under the Bridge Division had seconded the appointment of CCCC based on its performance---constructing the under-river tunnel.

Moreover, the Chinese state-owned company with its 1.12 lakh employees has experience working in the transportation sector in China and in other countries, the Bridge Division said in its proposal.

CCCC is constructing the 9.3km long tunnel, of which about 3.4km would be beneath the river, to be specific, under the estuary of the Bay of Bengal.

BBA said the traffic management system at both the ends of the tunnel is expected to be completed by 2023.

According to a 2013 feasibility study, the operational expense of the tunnel will be about $3.9 million (Tk 40 crore) per year, with a repairing cost of $1.9 million (Tk 19 crore) every five years. An inflation rate of 6.4 percent per year has been incorporated while estimating the operational expense.