ECNEC approves Tk 1,193cr to upgrade Cox�s Bazar Airport
The cost of Cox�s Bazar Airport development project was increased nearly 394 per cent from the original
estimate.
UNB
The government has taken a project to upgrade Coxs Bazar Airport to facilitate the take-off and landing of large aircraft and thus enhance regional communications through air and help boost the countrys tourism industry, reports UNB.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Tuesday approved the project titled Development of Coxs Bazar Airport (1st phase) involving Tk 1193.32 crore.
Of the total project cost, Tk 801.66 crore will come from the national exchequer while the rest of Tk 391.66 crore from the organisations own fund.
Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB), under the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry, will implement the project by June 2018.
According to a Planning Commission official, the Coxs Bazar Airport development project witnessed nearly 394 per cent cost hike from the original estimate.
CAAB took project in 2009 at a cost of Tk 302.65 crore to complete it by June 2012. Following its failure to implement the project in time, the government extended the timeframe up to December 2013 with an upward revision of the cost to Tk 549.64 crore.
Then again, CAAB failed to implement the project and got one and half years time extension up to June 2015 to complete the project without increasing the cost.
CAAB then sent the 2nd revised project proposal to the Planning Commission seeking Tk 890.67 crore additional fund from its original outlay of Tk 302.65 crore while the execution timeline up to December 2018 due to more land acquisition alongside cost, increase in market rate and quotation rate of the tender, cost escalation of various components, including local and foreign consultancy services.
The Project Evaluation Committee (PEC) of the Planning Commission then sat on August 3 last year where the Planning Commission recommended restructuring the revised Development Project Proposal (DPP) of the Coxs Bazar airport development with an estimated cost of Tk 1193.32 crore.
Another Planning Commission official told news agency that the delay in execution has resulted in the unusual hike in the cost of the airport upgradation project and addition of fresh three and a half years more time for completing the project.
The Coxs Bazar airport was established during the World War-II for military use. Now the airport is being used for carrying cargoes and passengers. It is one of the best routes for domestic airlines as thousands of tourists take flights to visit Coxs Bazar.
