Rs.10b JICA loan for landslide protection awarded

By Uditha Jayasinghe 

Two local companies have been selected to increase landslide protection of the national road network under a Rs.10 billion loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). 

A joint venture between RR Construction and Soltec, along with the State Development and Construction Corporation, were given two projects to build landslide protection of the road network in two provinces.  

The JICA loan, which was initially received in 2013 under the previous Government was given Cabinet approval the same year, according to the Cabinet paper seen by the Daily FT. As part of the loan, two contract packages for civil works were outlined and tenders were called in 2016. Under the first package, ten locations in the Central, Uva and Sabaragamuwa Provinces were selected to be protected from landslides while the second package covered six locations in the same Provinces. 

Five companies bid for the projects including Japanese company Wakachiku Construction, which had also bid for the controversial third section of the Central Expressway. A second Japanese company Taisei Corporation, that is the forerunner to winning the Central Expressway contract, had also submitted a bid according to the Cabinet paper signed by Higher Education and Highways Minister Lakshman Kiriella.  

Local companies Maga Engineering and State Development and Construction Corporation also submitted bids along with RR Construction, which joined with Soltec Ltd. in a joint venture. The Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC) considered the financial proposals of all the bids and selected State Development and Construction Corporation to construct landslide protection for the first package at a cost of Rs.760 million and $ 14 million while the joint venture between RR Construction and Soltec was given the second package at Rs. 2.1 billion. The Cabinet paper shows that the bid made by Taisei Corporation for the second package was more than three times higher than what was made by the local joint venture. Taisei has bid Rs. 159 billion to construct the third phase of the Central Expressway, according to reports, which is higher than the Rs. 147 billion bid submitted by Fujita Corporation. However, the Government is only studying the bid made by Taisei Corporation.