Larger share of tunnel and highway toll collected by contractors

The Padma Bridge, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Highway, and the Bangabandhu Tunnel under the Karnaphuli River in Chattogram are all new infrastructures.

However, contractors were appointed at a high cost for their repair, maintenance and toll collection during the previous Awami League government—without any competitive bidding.

Concerns have been raised that the company awarded the contract benefited by appointing contractors of its own choosing, bypassing the competitive bidding process.

Allegations of corruption have surfaced, implicating the then-ministers and officials.

As a result, the burden now falls on the people of the country. The transportation costs went up. Moreover, they have to shoulder the weight of mounting debt.

Meanwhile, the contractors are taking away a substantial portion of the revenue from these infrastructures.

The Awami League government awarded a South Korean company the contract for toll collection and maintenance on the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Expressway without opening a tender.

The company will receive approximately Tk 960 million annually for this work. In contrast, a Chinese company handles toll collection on the Bangabandhu Jamuna Multi-Purpose Bridge for just Tk 120 million per year, having secured the job through a competitive tender.

Over the next five years, the Roads and Highways Department (RHD) is set to pay the South Korean company Tk 7.17 billion for toll collection and maintenance of the expressway.

Since the project's launch, 80 per cent of the toll revenue collected from the expressway has been paid to the contractor.

Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan, adviser to the Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges, told Prothom Alo that many of the procurement processes and contractor appointments during the previous Awami League government are dubious. There are widespread allegations of collusion, and these agreements will be reviewed.

The Padma Bridge, Bangabandhu Tunnel, and Expressway—three major infrastructure projects under the Ministry—are at the centre of these allegations.

It is claimed that the contractors had close ties with the then Minister of Road Transport and Bridges, Obaidul Quader, and the then Secretary of the Bridges division, Khandker Anwarul Islam.

Because of their influence, the Awami League government awarded contracts through direct procurement, avoiding the usual tender process. Khandker Anwarul Islam later became the Cabinet Secretary.

Obaidul Quader went into hiding after the fall of the Awami League government on 5 August, following a student uprising, and his statement could not be taken.

However, former Cabinet Secretary Khandker Anwarul Islam told Prothom Alo that the Padma Bridge and Tunnel are complex projects. He explained that contractors had been selected for toll collection and maintenance through G2G (government-to-government) agreements.

According to him, the government believed it would be more efficient to assign responsibility for maintenance and toll collection to the same contractors who were involved in the construction or oversight of the projects.

Regarding his own involvement, Anwarul Islam clarified that the contractors were appointed through agreements with the relevant governments, and he had no role in the process.

In April 2022, the Bridge Division appointed Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC) and China’s Major Bridge Engineering Company (MBEC) to handle toll collection and maintenance for the Padma Bridge, a project built at a cost of over Tk 310 billion. The maintenance contract costs at Tk 6.93 billion for a five-year period.

KEC had served as the consultant overseeing the construction of the Padma Bridge, while MBEC was the main contractor for its construction. Both companies, having been involved in the construction and supervision phases, expressed interest in taking on the toll collection and maintenance work for the bridge.

The Padma Bridge project was officially completed in June 2023. Prior to that, MBEC, the original contractor, was responsible for repairing any defects in the bridge and performing river training work.

However, 26 months before the project's completion, a new contractor was appointed to handle the maintenance, repairs, and the river training work of the main bridge. Additionally, the cost for maintaining the connecting roads, buildings on both sides, and other infrastructure was estimated at Tk 880 million.

Sources within the Bridge Division say that the new bridge should not require major repairs for the first five years. The buildings and other installations also do not require significant spending, except for minor updates to electrical equipment. Despite this, the projected Tk 880 million maintenance cost deemed unusual.

Several senior officials from the Bridge Division, speaking anonymously, pointed out that the "service life" of a large bridge (the period before major repairs are needed) is typically considered to be 25 years. After that, equipment replacement and major repairs become necessary. For example, after 26 years of operation, a contractor was appointed in May 2023 for major repairs to the Jamuna Bridge, at a cost of Tk 1.28 billion.

Last month, the interim government appointed a separate contractor to handle toll collection for the Jamuna Bridge for a period of five years, at a cost of Tk 600 million. In total, Tk 1.88 billion will be spent on toll collection and major repairs for the Jamuna Bridge over five years. In comparison, the contractor for toll collection and maintenance of the new Padma Bridge has been appointed for nearly four times that amount—Tk 6.93 billion.

The Padma Bridge stretches just over six kilometers, while the Jamuna Bridge is 4.8 kilometers long. The toll for crossing the Padma Bridge is double that of the Jamuna Bridge. A large bus, for example, pays a toll of Tk 2,000 to cross the Padma Bridge, compared to Tk 1,000 for the Jamuna Bridge. According to Bridge Division sources, the average monthly toll collection on the Padma Bridge is Tk 800 million, with about 15 per cent of this amount going to the contractor.

The salary for a toll collector under the contract with Korea Expressway for the Padma Bridge is reported to be just over Tk 78,000. However, in reality, only a quarter of this salary is paid out.

There are allegations that inflated salaries have been shown for various posts, and expenses have been artificially increased on paper. Workers raised these concerns with the Bridge Division in August 2022. An inquiry committee, composed of seven members, confirmed that the allegations were true, but the Bridge Division did not take any action.

The construction of the expressway from Dhaka to Faridpur’s Bhanga began in 2021, but toll collection only started on 1 July, 2022.

Korea Expressway Corporation (KEC), the same contractor responsible for toll collection and maintenance on the Padma Bridge, was appointed for this expressway project as well.

As of September 2023, the total toll collected on the expressway had reached Tk 3.88 billion, and a bill of Tk 2.06 billion had been issued to the contractor through June.

Initially, the construction of the expressway was estimated to cost Tk 40 billion, but the final cost has risen to Tk 110 billion.

According to the design, the asphalt used on the road was supposed to last for 20 years, meaning no major repairs were expected to be needed until 2041.

However, less than a year into its operation, contractors have already been appointed for minor maintenance work on the highway for the next five years, at a cost of Tk 1.29 billion.

The toll collection and maintenance of the Chattogram tunnel are being handled by China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) Limited. This organisation  was also responsible for the feasibility study and construction of the tunnel. The Bridges Division has signed a five-year contract with CCCC for toll collection and maintenance, at the cost of Tk 6.84 billion.

According to the Bridges Division, the toll revenue from the Chattogram Tunnel in September was around Tk 25 million.

However, the contractor’s monthly expenditure, as per the contract, is about Tk 115 million, resulting in an average deficit of approximately Tk 95 million per month. The tunnel began operations in November last year.

Initially, the construction cost of the tunnel was estimated at just over Tk 50 billion. In the end, the cost increased to Tk 106.89 billion. Of this total, Tk 60 billion has been borrowed from the Exim Bank of China.

The government has been paying the interest and service charges on this loan since the agreement was signed. Sources within the bridges authority note that while the loan instalments for the Padma and Jamuna bridges are being paid from revenue, it has not been possible to cover the instalments for the tunnel loan with its current income.

The toll fees for using the tunnel are as follows: Tk 200 for cars, Tk 300 to Tk 500 for buses and minibuses, and Tk 400 to Tk 1,000 for cargo vans.

The previous Awami League government was often criticised for awarding contracts to its favoured contractors without inviting tenders, particularly for large infrastructure projects such as power plants, roads, and bridges.

Experts argue that this trend led to a significant increase in the cost of infrastructure development and contributed to the country’s growing loan burden.

Professor Shamsul Haque, from the Civil Engineering Department at the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), told Prothom Alo that procurement and recruitment of contractors through the G2G method lacked sufficient transparency.

He explained that this system often allowed politicians and influential bureaucrats to benefit through collusion, which, he believes, was evident in the appointment of contractors for toll collection and maintenance of the Padma Bridge, the Expressway, and the Bangabandhu Tunnel.

Referring to the first five to seven years of a new infrastructure project as the “honeymoon period,” Shamsul Haque emphasised that this period should typically see minimal expenditure on repairs.

He noted, however, that the practice of paying substantial sums to contractors for repairs during this time raises questions.

* This report, originally published in Prothom Alo Print edition in Bangla, has been in rewritten in English by Farjana Liakat