BM Desk:

A Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) was signed on Monday between the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) and Nippon Koei Co., Ltd., the selected consulting firm for the South Chattogram Regional Development Project being implemented by the Government of Bangladesh with JICA assistance under the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives.

The MoA was signed on behalf of LGED by the project director, Abdus Sattar, and on behalf of the consulting firm by Kazuyoshi Kotau, Chief Representative, Dhaka Office, Nippon Koei Co., Ltd., Rejaul Hasan, Director, Nippon Koei Bangladesh Limited, and Ashraar Q. Siddiquee, RPMC.

The total cost of the project is Tk. 3,644.92 crore, of which JICA will provide Tk. 2,497 crore and the Government of Bangladesh will provide Tk. 1,147.87 crore. The project has two components:

The infrastructure development component will include the construction of roads, bridges and culverts, irrigation and flood control infrastructure, human settlement development, solid waste management, water supply and other critical infrastructure.

The consulting firms will play a role in the project’s design, supervision and management, skill development, operation, engineering, procurement, operation and maintenance, social and environmental aspects.

The chief engineer of LGED, Ali Akhtar Hossain, additional chief engineers Nur Hossain Hawlader, Gopal Krishna Debnath and Mozakka Zaher, and supervising engineers, project directors, executive engineers and other officials of various units of LGED were present at the signing ceremony.

It is expected that the signing of the MoA will initiate the subsequent activities for the implementation of the South Chattogram Regional Development Project.