DHAKA: Country`s first-ever Public-Private Partnership project got going as Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Tuesday inaugurated the construction of the long-awaited Jatrabari-Gulistan flyover, aimed getting over one of the traffic impasses in the capital.  

At the inaugural ceremony at Golapbagh Ground, the premier named the country’s third and longest flyover after late Mohammad Hanif, the first elected mayor of Dhaka City Corporation and former President of Dhaka City Awami League.

After giving the go to the scheme she said the flyover would reduce the traffic concession in the capital as it would link Dhaka with the southeastern districts of the county passing over the jammed roads.
 
Local investment firm Orion Group`s associate body Belhasa Accom & Associates Limited is constructing the flyover on `Build Own Operate and Transfer` (BOOT) basis under completely private investment project.

Belhasa Accom authorities said the project – “a wonder of latest technology and architecture”-- is the first of its kind in Bangladesh, being the maiden PPP scheme since the concept was conceived some years back.

The four-lane flyover spans nearly nine kilometers with seven entrances and as many exits, along with 13 ramps, it said.

The overpass would be constructed in next three years at an estimated cost of about Tk 1,350 crore, sources said. The amount would come from private investors through a consortium of local banks and financial institutions, including the state-owned Sonali Bank, Agrani Bank and Janata Bank.

“The flyover will connect Dania on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway to Palashi`s Shaheed Zahir Raihan Road in the capital through Jatrabari, Sayedabad, Gulistan, Bangabandhu Avenue and Fulbaria,” project director engineer Ashiqur Rahman told Banglanews24.com.bd.

The flyover, he said, would cover Azimpur and Mirpur Road on the west, Matuail and Demra on the east and Katchpur and Buriganga bridges on the south and the densely populated north.

In 1999, the previous Awami League government took the initiative to construct the country`s largest elevated corridor on the basis of Public-Private Partnership (PPP). In 2003, a 7-km bridge was designed and its cost was estimated at Tk 670 crore.  But, later, it was extended to 9-km one and its estimated cost soared to Tk 1,350 crore.

BDST: 1445Hrs. June 22, 2010
TSA/SMS/MUA