- Only 30% of total project completed
- Awaiting JICA concurrence on technical evaluation
- Project to be implemented in 2 packages
A further 30 months will be required to complete the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) Terminal II project once it is awarded to the prospective Japanese contractor through the ongoing tender process, as only around 30% has been completed under the previous regimes, the Ministry of Ports and Civil Aviation reveals.
Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, Deputy Minister of Ports and Civil Aviation Janitha Ruwan Kodithuwakku stated that the technical evaluation of the two prospective Japanese contractors who had submitted bids to serve as the main contractor for the completion of the project had been completed.
He added that they were now awaiting the Japan International Cooperation Agency’s (JICA) concurrence on the technical evaluation, for which the agency had requested six weeks.
“JICA informed us that it would require six weeks, so it will most likely complete the process by the end of this month,” he said.
Kodithuwakku further noted that once JICA’s concurrence was received, the authorities could proceed to open financial bids and thereafter take steps to award the contract to the lowest responsive bidder.
Commenting on the current status of work under the project, he revealed that only about 30% of the total project had been completed under previous administrations.
He added that once the contract was awarded to a new contractor, the estimated project completion period would be around 30 months.
Kodithuwakku explained that the project was implemented in two packages: Package A and Package B.
Accordingly, he stated: “Package B involves the construction of a hangar, which has been largely completed, while Package A involves the construction of the terminal, car park, and access roads, of which only about 15% has been completed.”
The contract for the construction of the BIA Terminal II project, which involves the construction of a multi-level terminal, was valued at $ 564 million and was initially awarded to the Taisei Corporation in 2020.
However, following the stoppage of construction work in 2020 due to the funding freeze imposed by JICA following Sri Lanka’s default, Taisei Corporation terminated its contract with Sri Lanka.
The construction of this multi-level terminal is part of Package A of the BIA expansion project, which was initially estimated to cost Rs. 133 billion and was to be largely funded by the Special Terms for Economic Partnership (STEP) concessionary Official Development Assistance (ODA) loan granted by JICA amounting to Rs. 131.5 billion (¥ 74.4 billion) at a 0.1% interest rate per annum. The remaining Rs. 21.5 billion was to be funded by Airport and Aviation Services (Sri Lanka) Ltd. (AASL).
With regard to Package A, AASL entered into two agreements with JICA. The first agreement was entered into in March 2012 for ¥ 29 billion and the second was entered into in March 2016 for ¥ 45.4 billion.