Dhaka Airport: Handing over Terminal-3 to Caab gets delayed

The much-anticipated handover of third terminal of Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka to the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh could not take place yesterday.

Aviation Dhaka Consortium (ADC), contractor of the terminal, failed to complete the works within the contract deadline, which ended yesterday, said a top official of the project.

Amid this situation, Caab Chairman Air Vice Marshal M Mafidur Rahman yesterday held meeting with the contractor and others related to the project to evaluate the situation at the Caab headquarters in the capital's Kurmitola.

"The contractor company requested us to extend the deadline by another six months," Mafidur Rahman said yesterday.

The Caab chairman also said they have placed two proposals to the contractor company -- handover the building now and complete the remaining works by September, or have the contract extended by six months without any additional fund.

The contractor company is scheduled to sit with Caab on April 22 to decide on the proposals.

Around 95 percent of the works of HSIA Terminal-3 has been completed. The remaining works include testing, calibration and setting up of some equipment, he also said.

The Caab chief added they are determined to start operation of Terminal-3 by October this year.

Contacted, AKM Maksudul Islam, project director of Terminal-3, refused to comment.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina partially inaugurated the Terminal-3 on October 7 last year.

The Tk 21,300 crore project commenced on December 28, 2019.

The government contributed Tk 5,000 crore, while the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) provided the remaining funding.