Govt. to split tender for BIA Terminal 2 to reduce cost

Tuesday, 31 July 2018 00:13

By Chathuri Dissanayake

After negotiations with bidders to match the Engineer Estimate for the extension of Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) failed, the Transport and Aviation Ministry is now seeking approval to split the tender, with aims to bring down value.

The first round of bidding failed as out of the two tenderers -both Japanese companies, as per funding conditions -which responded to the original call for bids for the expansion project, the lowest bid was 45% percent higher than the Engineer Estimate.

However, several rounds of negotiations between the Ministry and the tenderer failed to bring down the value, a senior Ministry official told Daily FT. The second tenderer was over 96% higher than the Engineer Estimate.

As JICA has refused to reconsider the funding condition which requires Sri Lanka to award the job to a Japanese construction company, the Ministry is unable to call for international open tenders on the project. The restriction has put a strain on the Ministry to find a contractor who can match the Engineer Estimate, a Ministry official told Daily FT.

As a remedy, the Transport Ministry is trying to split the tender into four parts, which will allow some items of the project be awarded to local contractors who are able to carry out the work, the official explained.

The Cabinet of Ministers has given approval for the move, provided that the funding agency JICA agrees. Following discussions with the funding agency, the Ministry has been told to discuss with the consultants of the project before JICA is able to agree to the new system, Daily FT learnt.

However even with the split, over 85% of the construction work for the permanent terminal will still have to be awarded to a Japanese company as per funding conditions, the official explained.

The Ministry decided to construct a temporary terminal at an estimated cost of $ 17 million to deal with the demand, as the airport is unable to cater to the demand which surpassed its capacity last year, Deputy Minister Ashok Abeysinghe told Daily FT.

The capacity of BIA is to handle 6 million passengers per year.However, last year alone, BIA handled 6.5 million passengers, and it is projected to increase to 9.7 million this year. The second terminal was expected to be in operation by 2020 to handle the increasing passenger numbers.

“But the negotiation staled and we have to look at alternative measures to meet the demand. That is why we are looking at building a temporary terminal now,” Abeysinghe said.

The tender to construct the temporary terminal closed earlier this month, and will go through an evaluations process. The Deputy Minister hopes to award the tender and commence work within this year. Construction work is expected to be completed within six to eight months of commencement.

- http://www.ft.lk/top-story/Govt--to-...cost/26-660017

A 3rd world airport with 3rd world problems

That nice; so custom want to investigate this...never knew Sri Lanka customs were law enforcement officers





I wonder what Airport police was doing

Meesa thinks this belong in courts...

Never let a good crisis go to waste!

India to operate Mattala Airport for 40 years

COLOMBO (News 1st) – The Indian Minister of State for Civil Aviation Jayant Sinha has made it clear, through a statement in the Lok Sabha, that there is no proposal under consideration for the Airports Authority of India to buy a controlling stake in the Mattala Airport. However, Sri Lanka’s Minister of Civil Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva stated recently that discussions are continuing to take place with India.

Minister Nimal Siripala states that the Indian Airport Authority and Sri Lanka are hoping to establish a Joint Venture Company to control the Mattala Airport, where 70% shares will be bought by India. If the Indian Airport Authority buys 70% equity in the Company controlling the Mattala Airport, isn’t it a controlling stake over the Airport?

The Hindu Newspaper reports that both sides have held several rounds of discussions over this project and reports that India will operate the airport on a 40-year lease, as per the draft agreement.

Accordingly, the two governments, after detailed negotiations, have agreed that India, with a 70% stake in the joint venture will contribute $225 million to revamp and run the airport, while Sri Lankan will invest the balance. The Hindu Newspaper also goes on to state that it is an open secret that New Delhi’s strategic interests in running the airport, located near the China-controlled port in Hambantota, outweighs commercial considerations.

Even though this airport has gained a strategic interest in India, Minister Nimal Siripala states that the airport will not be used for any Military or Air Force activity.

This is the only thing that is 'news' in this article.

The rest is this Nirmal Siripala talking more "Sri Lanka Big Talk BS"

How many immigration officers are on duty at any time?

Was back in CMB and there was a huge backlog of passengers as it looked like there were couple of immigration officers to handle everyone (I am guessing under 10 for 400 ~ 500 passengers) in the night.

Some of our locals were jumping the queue also which was not helping matters that much with long queues and delays.

The Sri Lankan cabinet on Wednesday approved a proposal to conduct a feasibility study to construct an airport in the central hills of Kandy in order to boost tourism in the area.


Cabinet Spokesperson Gayantha Karunathilleke said that following a proposal by Minister of Transport and Civil Aviation Nimal Siripala de Silva, cabinet had granted permission to conduct the feasibility study.


The airport will be built for domestic air services and will be aimed at boosting foreign visitors as Kandy is a popular tourist destination.


Sri Lanka aims to double the number of tourists to 5 million by 2020 as part of a new tourist strategy to boost earnings of the South Asian island country, Tourism Minister John Amaratunga said.


The primary areas of focus, according to the plan, include world-class management of natural and cultural heritage sites, strong connectivity to and around the island country and ensuring a safe and secure destination.


Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe said last week the government also aims to develop airports in the north and east in order to establish a strong air connectivity throughout the island

Source-Xinhua

Good move! Kandy definately need an airport. Operating flights from Colombo to Kandy would save the travellers time as train and road transport takes too long to get there.

There's no money for any of this - that's the hard reality.

More Sri Lanka "Big Talk" imho.

Just ignore anything the Politicians say - it's all BS.

The Government is to call for fresh bids for the construction of a new terminal at the Bandaranaike International Airport after the Cabinet decided to cancel the bid from Japan on grounds that it was too high, a senior official said.

Airport and Aviation Service Sri Lanka Ltd Chairman Saman Ediriweera told the Sunday Times that the bid had a difference of 46 percent when compared to the engineer’s estimate. The Cabinet, which considered the proposal, had decided to cancel the bidding process and advised to obtain the concurrence from JICA (Japanese International Cooperation Agency) for rebidding for the US$ 700 million project.

It was also proposed to promote the project as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP). A detailed design for the project was carried out by the Japan Airport Consultants in 2006 at a cost of Rs 340 million, but the project was delayed due to a range of reasons. The bidding process for the Stage Two of the project’s phase II resumed in September/November 2016 in two packages. However only one contractor was found and that too only for one package of the project.

The decision to call fresh bids is now set to delay the construction of the terminal until 2022. Mr Ediriweera said that the present terminal handled more than 10 million passengers annually though it was geared to handle around 6 million. He said they were planning an interim terminal to meet the increasing demand.

sundaytimes.lk

HOW SLOW AND INCOMPETENT IS OUR GOVERNMENT?? Would not start until 2022?

What a joke ! These jokers are planning to 2nd & 3rd International Airport in the country and planning masterplans for Ratmalana instead of expanding the one international airport (Katunayake).

Shame ! he is saying even the interim terminal is on planning stage. Already too late !

As expected! The Japs will be insane if they want to invest more in Lanka! Its guaranteed that their investments would be siphoned into some idiots pocket as commission!