The Roads and Highways Department (RHD), one of the major spenders (and a top abuser also) of development funds has reportedly requested the Planning Commission (PC) for extension of tenure and additional fund for a bridge project.
There is no reason to be surprised about such a request. The PC is familiar with this kind of request coming from various public sector agencies engaged in the execution of development projects, particularly the large and medium ones. Instances of these agencies making requests for time extension and additional funds for a single project on a number of occasions are many.
But what has surprised the PC most is that their records say that the life of the bridge project for which the RHD has requested for tenure-extension and additional funds expired in June 2012.
The history of the project under which three important bridges---the 3rd Buriganga, the 2nd Sitalakhya and the Teesta --- were to be constructed amply highlights again the poor level of efficiency and incompetence of the RHD.
The bridge project started in 2003 got its life extended on three occasions until June 2012. The requests for tenure extension are always accompanied by pleas for additional funds. The bridge project also got additional funds over half a billion taka.
A report published in the Financial Express recently said the RHD after June 2012 did not bother to make any plea to the PC for extension of the project life and continued with the implementation work of the bridge project. After nearly two years, the Department has approached the PC with requests for extension of the project life up to June next year, make available an additional fund of Tk 620 million and include the project in the revised annual development programme (RADP) for the current fiscal. If the requests are met, the project would cost the government Tk 1.0 billion more than what was estimated originally.
The PC has found the relevant RHD exercise on the bridge project irregular, so it is against the inclusion of the project in the RADP. However, it has not rejected the requests outright and sent the same to the planning minister for necessary review. That is how development bureaucracy works. It always makes a cautious approach to avoid backlash.
The instance of RHD's bridge project might be a unique one. But the requests for extension of time and additional funds have turned out to be a chronic problem for efficient execution of development projects in the country. Sometimes such requests are made on valid grounds. But in most cases the delays are made deliberately with an ill motive of hiking the cost of the projects. In the event of cost escalation of a project, an unscrupulous section of officials and contractors get the scope of making a few extra bucks. It is alleged that the main reason behind the delay in project execution has been the motive to reap some unearned income.
At the moment a number of big road projects, including the Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane highway and the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway expansion, are underway. Most of these projects have got extension on a number of times with their costs soaring unabatedly.
The PC usually gets annoyed with requests for extension of project life and additional funds. But it hardly does anything beyond that. In the cases of major projects, the PC rather unwillingly entertains such requests.
The Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED) is entrusted with the responsibility of looking into the implementation lapses involving the development projects. But this organisation also has never been equal to its mandated jobs. Thus, execution of development projects has been a major source of graft in the country. The level of irregularities is high in the case of projects implemented with local funds. The donor-funded development projects are not immune to this problem. But irregularities are usually far less because of monitoring by the donors concerned.
That is why the rate of implementation of development projects being implemented with external assistance is far less than that of locally funded projects. The low spending of external assistance, particularly that coming from the multilateral donors, has given rise to the problem of a huge backlog of project aid, now estimated at around $16 billion.
Under the circumstances, the government has to ensure discipline in development project execution and take steps to eliminate irregularities of all sorts as far as possible. This is necessary for timely execution of many important projects and stopping wastage of a substantial volume of taxpayers' as well as donors' money.
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