Dhaka WASA rejoinder
The Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (WASA) has differed with a portion of the report, headlined Faulty Design: WASA worried over Tk 3,508 crore Padma Water Treatment Plant published in The Independent on June 12. The rejoinder is as follows: The headline of the news is incorrect as well as the statement of DWASA managing director mentioned in the news is also contradictory. At one paragraph, the reporter mentioned. When contacted over the mater, Taqsem Khan denied that the agreement with CAMCE was faulty whereas the managing director was misquoted subsequently. Khan alleged that the employer has the impression that CAME was deliberately trying to shift the geotechnical-induced risk to the employed in order to economize on the construction work for the foundation. The managing director did not tell anything like this. The fact is that, the said contract is EPC/Turnkey where the contractor has the responsibility to design, procure and construct the relevant infrastructures. The design of different components of the project is still in preliminary stages, even some of them are in conceptual stages.
Secondly, there was no agreement with the contractors regarding earthquake magnitudes. It is notable that Dhaka WASA and the project officials concerned are well aware of the safety issues. The reporter also mentioned that the plant work is supposed to be finished by this month, but the fact is that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina laid the foundation stone of the project on 28 October, 2015, and the project work is supposed to be completed in the next three years.
