Govt dev projects in vortex of increasing time and cost

Work on the road has been incomplete month after month. The picture was taken recently from Kellar intersection in Lalbagh.
Prothom Alo file photo

Certain government organisations are looking at the delay and inflated costs of development projects, officials said, and the government's political will is being put into question.

Whether there is any link with corruption behind this dismal scenario of the implementation of the projects has not yet been discussed.

Most of the development projects taken up by the government are failing to meet the deadlines and and are exceeding the estimated costs.

Against this backdrop, the deadlines are being extended while the quality of work is deteriorating, resulting in sufferings of the people.

The issue has come up for discussion after prime minister Sheikh Hasina expressed dissatisfaction over the extension of the time frame and revision of allocations of development projects at a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on 5 January this year.

The prime minister had raised such concern a month ago too.

Road transport and bridges ministry

Ninety-nine projects were implemented under the road transport and bridges ministry from June 2016 to June 2020 during the seventh five-year plan.

The Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) placed the evaluation report on these projects at the last meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on the planning ministry. It shows the time frame in 48 out 96 projects has been extended for once or more than once. Nothing was said about the deadline of 28 projects. Only 16 projects have been implemented within the stipulated time frame. Four projects have been completed before the deadline. Expenditure of the projects has been revised in most of the cases.

The time frame of Joydebpur-Mymensingh road development project was three years. This was extended by three more years in three phases. Finally, it took seven years to complete the project. Beside the deadline, the cost increased by 200 per cent. And people had to suffer immensely on the road for seven years.

From mega projects like Padma Bridge to small rural infrastructure development projects, the deadlines are not being met. Frequent extension of time frame and rise in cost has become a usual scenario. In the recent past, no one has been held accountable nor has been reprimanded over the failure of project implementation. Sometimes media outlets report on the suffering of general people who contribute to these developments.

Railway tracks are being installed as construction work of metro rail proceeds on at Diabari area in Uttara, Dhaka. This photo was taken on 10 October, 2020.
Prothom Alo file photo

The scenario of the projects of the local government, rural development and cooperative ministry is also same. The parliamentary committee also expressed dissatisfaction over this.

According to the committee sources, planning minister MA Mannan told the meeting that most of the time he is held responsible for excessive expenditure and increase of time frame of the project.

Project costs and deadlines might be extended because of adding new work including land acquisition. The minister said lack of skilled resources and failing to assess the requirements properly is responsible for the increase in time and costs.

IMED’s project-based evaluation said quality of many projects wasn’t maintained because of frequent revision and time extension. In many case, the project director (PD) has been changed repeatedly. On the other hand, the same person also carries out the PD’s responsibility for several projects. As a result, maintaining the quality of work hasn’t been possible. The IMED advised ensuring proper planning and scrutiny of projects.

Regarding this, planning minister MA Mannan told Prothom Alo that many things are involved in the delay of project time frame and rise in the expenditure. It happens in many countries but the tendency appears to be more in Bangladesh. “We don’t want this to continue,” he said.

The third Karnaphuli bridge construction project on the river Karnaphuli was taken in July of 2002. The deadline was June of 2006. But the implementation period was set for December 2019 after extending the time frame several times. The initial budget of the project was Tk 4.39 billion (439 crore) but the revised cost of the project rose to Tk 7.97 billion (797 crore). The project cost increased by 81 per cent and the time by 337 per cent during this period.

Complexity over foreign loans was the major reason for rise in expenditure and time frame. The IMED said such a rise in cost and time in the project is not acceptable at all.

The implementation period of Habiganj’s Baniachong-Nabinagar road construction project was four years but it took eight years. Troject director was changed three times.

Padma bridge
BSS

Many projects including construction of Charfassion-Charmanika-Baburhat Launchghat road in Bhola and Gazipur-Azmatpur- Itakhola road took double time. Project cost increased too.

Local government ministry

The Local Government Division (LGD) had a project for development of rural road and village market infrastructure on priority. Implementation of the project took four more years than the approved deadline and required Tk 660 million (66 crore) more.

Sources at the parliamentary committee said, 30 projects were completed by the Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) under the LGD in 2018-19 fiscal. These were mainly the infrastructure development projects in rural areas. Of which, the IMED didn’t receive the project completion report (PCR) of 13 projects. Implementation was not completed within deadline in 10 of the remaining 17 projects.

Work of the LGED’s 24 projects was completed in 2017-18 fiscal. At least 13 of these projects saw increase in time and costs.

According to sources, last month, a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Ministry of Planning told its meeting that three years had been given to build a bridge in his constituency. The bridge hasn’t been constructed in seven years. But the respective contractor hasn’t been o blacklisted. Instead he has got the contract for construction of a bridge in the neighboring upazila.

Fisheries and livestock ministry

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Estimates had discussed various projects taken by the fisheries and livestock ministry. The livestock and daily development (LDD) project of the livestock services department started in January of 2019 with a budget of Tk 42.8 billion (4,280 crore) and a deadline of 31 December 2023. But progress of the work was only 6 per cent until November last year. A four-wheeler, five double cabin pickup vans, a microbus and 418 motorcycles were purchased for the project. Other than purchasing the vehicles, no significant progress has been made.

A project on eradication of peste des petits ruminants (PPR) disease and control of razor diseases of cattle began in 1 January 2019. Its deadline is 2022 but the work progress was 2 per cent until last November. The sustainable coastal and marine fisheries project has started in June of 2018. The project deadline is June 2013 but the work progress is only 10 per cent.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Estimates expressed dissatisfaction over the dismal situation of various projects of the fisheries and livestock ministry. The committee said delay in project and lack of good financial governance has put the political goodwill of the government in question.

Railway ministry

The ongoing projects of the railway ministry were discussed at the last meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Estimates last December. The railway ministry had provided the committee with the update of 39 projects till 2020.

Newly constructed Syed Nazrul Islam Bridge on Andharmanik river in Kalapara, Patuakhali
Prothom Alo file photo

It showed 11 out 39 projects saw increase in time and costs. In some cases, new work has been added to the projects. An initial budget of Tk 514.06 billion (51,406 crore) was estimated for these 11 projects. The allocation has increased to Tk 815.08 billion (81,508 crore) now. That means the estimated cost of these projects has increased by Tk 300 billion (30,000 crore) along with extending the time.

Textile and jute ministry

Sources concerned said seven projects on the establishment of textile engineering college are underway. Five of these projects have already been revised for two or three times with increasing the estimates cost of each one.

Economist and former secretary Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan told Prothom Alo that taking up projects beyond capacity is the biggest reason of not implementing the project within deadline. Other reason is taking up projects before completing proper plan and preparation. For this reason, faults in design appear halfway through the big projects. Hardly had any stern action been taken if anyone failed to complete the project in time. And completing projects on time should also be rewarded. None of this happens here, he added.

*This report appeared in the print and online editions of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Hasanul Banna