Trade Fair complex: Design errors, Tk 4.27b more needed

Questions have been raised about the construction of infrastructure for the international trade fair in Purbachal close to Dhaka, without any proper planning.

The construction has been completed at the cost of Tk 13 billion (1,300 crore) without adequate parking space, warehouses or living arrangements for the foreign traders.

After only two years, the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) now wants to construct this anew. That will cost another Tk 4.27 billion (Tk 427 crore). This organisation running under the commerce ministry has sought the funds from the government treasury. 

According to government documents, the facilities that are usually there at an international trade fair are absent in Purbachal. The parking facilities are inadequate and is there are no warehouses to store the goods.

There is even no residential arrangements or dormitory near the fair area for the foreign and local traders to stay. There are not enough exhibition halls to showcase the merchandise or any auditorium to organise a large conference or event.

Officials concerned say that the trade fair has been permanently set up on 20 acres of land in Purbachal. Without any assessment or consultnat, a Chinese company constructed the infrastructure of the trade fair. If there was proper plan all the structures could have been built within this area. 

Even EPB officials confessed that no long-term planning was done at the time of setting up the trade fair. So, the construction now has to be done afresh.

When asked, executive director of South Asian Network on Economic Modeling (SANEM), Selim Raihan told Prothom Alo that this is a waste of government money. Any international trade fair zone in the world usually has some basic facilities.

These could have been arranged at Purbachal the first time. That means government officials don’t have the ability to make long-term plans, he added.

According to sources related to the project, the government approved ‘Bangladesh-China Friendship Exhibition Centre Construction’ project in 2015 to attract foreign investment alongside exhibiting local goods.

The project cost was estimated at Tk 7.96 billion (796 crore) then. This included a Tk 6.25 billion (625 crore) donation from the Chinese government and the remaining Tk 1.71 billion (171 crore) was provided by the government.

Though the project was supposed to be completed by 2018, it did not. The cost later soared to Tk 13.03 billion (1,303 crore). After extending the project period twice China State Construction Engineering Corporation finally completed the construction in February 2021.

The Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) has sent a new project to the planning commission with the stipulated cost of Tk 17.3 billion (1,730 crore). That means the project cost is increasing by Tk 4.27 billion (427 crore).

Concerned EPB officials say that the infrastructure of the trade fair has been constructed on a 20-acre land plot. A Chinese company named Beijing Institute of Architectural Design (BIAD) designed the premises of the trade fair.

Based on their design, the project was done by China State Construction Engineering Corporation. The Bangladesh government had no opinion in that design.

Chinese firm BIAD in their design suggested that building an underground parking on the fairground would not be logical. Following their design, arrangements were made to park at least 500 vehicles in front and on the sides of the fair.

Now the EPB officials say that the underground parking on the fairground needed to be constructed already. The traffic pressure in the fair area is increasing with time and will increase even further in future.

Underground parking will be constructed on another six acres of land. Once it’s done it will be able to accomodate 1,000 vehicles. EPB says there was an error here right from the beginning.

It is customary to build warehouses for storing goods to facilitate those exhibiting their merchandise at the international trade fair. But that was not followed at the trade fair zone in Purbachal. In the revised project, an initiative has been taken to construct warehouses on an area of ​​69,775 square feet in the trade fair ground.

Also, EPB says it’s essential to construct a dormitory with modern facilities in the fair zone to attract foreign buyers. Besides, local sellers also need the dormitory facility.

No residential arrangement has been created near the fair area. The original design didn’t include the plan for a dormitory. Foreign buyers travel 35 kilometres from Dhaka every day for a month during the fair.

On condition of anonymity, a senior official from the planning commission told Prothom Alo that the Chinese contractor company, with proper planning could have fit a number of structures on the 20-acre site. But they didn't do that. Now the cost is increasing while it’s costing an additional six acres of land as well.

When drawn attention to these faults, project director Ataur Rahman Siddiqui told Prothom Alo that no long-term planning was done while constructing infrastructure at the trade fair. The main construction was done by the Chinese company.

There were no consultants at that time. The consultant was appointed when the main infrastructure had already been completed. He added that there has been a change in the thought process and it has become necessary to establish some structures anew. That’s why the project has been proposed for revision.