Tk 1 lakh for each project

64 development projects get such a 'token allocation'; analysts term it eyewash, waste of public money

Jagaran Chakma

Some 64 projects, many of which are important infrastructure ones, got just Tk 1 lakh each this fiscal year in a bizarre move by the government that has presented its most expansive development budget yet of Tk 1.80 lakh crore.

People do not benefit from these token allocations as it will further delay the implementation of the projects, said Ahsan H Mansur, executive director of the Policy Research Institute.

“This is misallocation of resources as well as waste of public money,” he added.

Of the 64 projects, 57 are five to eight years old and they were scheduled for completion this June, four are ongoing and the remaining three did not even start work, according to data from the planning ministry.

But the government has indiscriminately allocated Tk 1 lakh to each of these projects without considering their deadline or their importance.

Take the case of the Tk 2,008 crore Shikalbaha 225 megawatt (MW) dual fuel combined cycle power plant, which as of February this year has spent Tk 1,282 crore or 64 percent of its allocation.

But the government has given just Tk 1 lakh to it this fiscal year.

Similarly, the construction of the Bangladesh Railway's new line for Ishwardi-Pabna-Dhalar Char has got a mere Tk 1 lakh despite the completion of 91 percent of the work as of February.

Another striking case was the construction of the Muradpur-2 Gate and GEC Junction Flyover in Chittagong, a Tk 970 crore project.

As of February, the project is 63 percent through and yet the government gave it only Tk 1 lakh this year.

There are at least six projects on the list with over 90 percent of the works done, with one even 99 percent through. Another nine projects have finished at least 80 percent of their works.

“This token allocation will keep the projects alive and we will revise those in future,” MA Mannan, state minister for finance and planning, told The Daily Star yesterday.

He, however, acknowledged that in some cases the cost of the projects increased due to delays in implementation.

Mansur said the planning ministry should stop the projects or allocate the necessary funds.

Often, the politicians just want to show that they are working on a big number of projects, so the projects are kept alive by allocating token funds, said AB Mirza Azizul Islam, former adviser to the caretaker government.

“It's eyewash,” he added.

Towfiqul Islam Khan, research fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, said they have also found some projects that have finished but still got allocations and so did some others that are yet to take off.

Abdus Salam, chairman of the Chittagong Development Authority, suggested Khan might be right.

The Muradpur-2 Gate and GEC Junction Flyover project has already been completed, he said.

“I was surprised to see that the government has allocated Tk 1 lakh for the project in the current fiscal year.”

• Courtesy: Daily Star /Business/ Jul 24, 2018