MPs to get Tk 250 million for infrastructure development
The lawmakers will get Tk 250 million each for infrastructural development in their constituencies over the period of five years.
They will get Tk 50 million each year to spend on constructing roads, bridges, culverts, bazaars and ghats.
However, 20 lawmakers from constituencies of city corporation areas won’t get the fund and the lawmakers from the reserved seats won’t either.
There has been long-standing criticism regarding the lawmakers’ involvement with infrastructure development.
The conflict between lawmakers and upazila chairman over development projects is on the rise.
Experts think that this conflict is debilitating the upazila administration. Article 65 of the constitution states that the lawmakers’ duty is to formulate law while article 59 states that development is vested with the local government.
Sources from the planning commission and local government ministry said 280 members of parliament will get Tk 50 million in every year for five years. The MPs will get the fund from ‘Rural infrastructure development project -4 on priority basis’. The MPs from city corporation areas are excluded as the project is related to rural areas.
Local Government Engineering Department (LGED, however, maintains that the MPs won’t get the funds directly as they can only decide on the roads, bridges, culverts and bazaars. The LGED would do the development work as per the list provided by the MPs.
The LGED sent letters to the executive directors of every district on 20 February. The letter, signed by LGED’s chief engineer Ali Akhter Hossain, asked concerned authorities to send project proposals worth Tk 250 million for development of roads in consultation with local MPs.
LGED said expansion of pucca roads will get priority in the proposed projects. The letter asked for development of roads in upazila, union and rural areas.
The project’s director Ruhul Amin Khan told Prothom Alo on Sunday that projects from 42 districts have so far reached and rest of the 22 districts are likely to send projects within two weeks.
Asked, the project’s director Ruhul Amin Khan told Prothom Alo on Sunday that projects from 42 districts have so far reached and rest of the 22 districts are likely to send projects within two weeks. He said there would not be any overlapping with the earlier projects as every road has a unique code. The roads that underwent development in the past won’t be included in the project.
Sources said every MP got Tk 150 million each for infrastructural development in their own constituency during the tenure of Awami League assumed office in 2009. The lawmakers got Tk 200 million each in the next two parliaments in 2014 and 2018.
Meanwhile, the progress of the projects undertaken in the last parliament is not satisfactory. As per information provided by the planning ministry, ‘Rural infrastructure development project -3 on priority basis’ worth Tk 64.76 billion has achieved only 53 per cent progress. The project is supposed to be completed within 2026. The LGED is starting a new project while the ongoing one is not yet completed.
TIB executive director Iftekharuzzaman told Prothom Alo that this fund is being given to the MPs irrationally. Development of infrastructure of roads, bridges or ghats is not the work of the MPs, rather they are entrusted with formulating law.
Transparency International Bangladesh’s (TIB) executive director Iftekharuzzaman told Prothom Alo that this fund is being given to the MPs irrationally. Development of infrastructure of roads, bridges or ghats is not the work of the MPs, rather they are entrusted with formulating law. It’s the responsibility of the local governments to do the development works. Upazila chairmen are there (for development). There surely is a conflict of interest.
Iftekharuzzaman said TIB a year ago found allegations of irregularities in these projects of the MPs' likings. The MPs should distance themselves from this role, he thinks.