Jagaran Chakma

The government is sticking to its word and ousting China Harbour Engineering from another infrastructure project -- the Marine Drive expressway in Cox's Bazar worth about $2.8 billion -- for its earlier episode of offering bribe.

Earlier in January, the Chinese engineering contractor was ousted from the Dhaka-Sylhet highway development project for offering bribe to a secretary of the road transport and bridges ministry.

After the incident the government blacklisted the firm and vowed to never give it any work, according to Finance Minister AMA Muhith.

The roads and highways division in 2016 had signed a non-binding preliminary agreement with the Chinese firm to implement the 160-km-long Marine Drive expressway along the coastline of the Bay of Bengal to connect Bangladesh's main port city with the country's prime tourist destination.

The expressway will be linked with the Asian Highway No. 41 and the economic corridor that connects Bangladesh, China, India and Myanmar.

But the government is now considering giving the contract to another Chinese company, China State Construction Engineering Corporation, said a road transport and highway division official.

Chine State Construction Engineering Corporation is the largest construction company in the world by revenue.

Zahidul Haque, additional secretary of the Economic Relations Division, said if the ministry cancel the preliminary agreement with China Harbour Engineering, the Chinese firm has no right to go for arbitration as no final agreement was signed.

However, the change of contractors will invariably delay the project's implementation.

The new contractor would be selected through the limited tendering method after the change in rules for China-funded projects. China Harbour Engineering was selected through the direct procurement method. Meanwhile, the road transport and highway division has called for a fresh feasibility study on the project.

The seaside expressway will connect Chittagong's industrial hub Sitakunda with the world's largest unbroken sea beach in Cox's Bazar, increasing its tourism potential and creating a form of coastal protection from tidal surges.

Nazrul Islam, secretary of road transport and highway division, declined to comment on the matter.

Founded in 1980, China Harbour Engineering is a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company, one of the Fortune 500 companies.

China Harbour Engineering has signed a deal with the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority to set up an economic zone for Chinese investors at Anwara in Chittagong.