Aziz accuses ministries of presenting cooked up reports on project execution

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Finance Adviser Dr Mirza Azizul Islam Saturday said ministries concerned, in some cases, provide inaccurate information on implementation of development projects in an effort to show their better performance, reports UNB.
"A project had reported 65 per cent implementation last year, but IMED (Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division of Planning Ministry) found only 5-6 per cent after examining the necessary accounts," he said.
Dr Aziz came up with the sorry-state of the reporting system at a seminar at a city hotel, and stressed the need for "timely and honest" information on project implementation.
He was responding to a recommendation of (past) performance-based allocation at the seminar on "IMED Strategic Plan", a project undertaken to strengthen result-based monitoring and evaluation.
Asian Development Bank (ADB) Country Director Hua Du, among others, addressed the seminar, chaired by IMED Secretary Sk AK Motahar Hossain.
The IMED, in July last year, undertook a two-year project worth Tk 70 million, including an ADB technical assistance equivalent to Tk 50 million, to develop a strategic plan of monitoring and evaluation. It has so far formulated a draft plan recommending result-based allocation of resources.
"It's crucial first to allocate fund efficiently, and then use it efficiently," Dr Aziz said, adding that the government is determined to ensure better transparency and accountability in public expenditure.
He said getting timely and honest information on development projects is an absolute imperative to ensure transparency and accountability of the public fund. "We've made some progress in this area, but lot more needs to be done," he said.
An IMED senior official said they found some projects spent only 5-6 per cent of the total project cost, although they got released 65 per cent of the ADP allocation.
There is a practice in implementation of development projects that the ministries have the funds released before the end of the fiscal year, but they implement the projects even beyond that fiscal, he added. "Past performance cannot be the only indicator of resource allocation," the finance adviser said, adding: "There is a dilemma."
He said, for instance, there is a need for giving more resources to some areas like health sector despite their poor performance in the past. The government could not provide adequate physicians after developing health infrastructure that resulted in deterioration of the health indicators.
Dr Aziz stressed the need for more data collection, clearly defined performance indicators, and looking at the problem of particular project whether it (problem) was caused by external or internal reasons, and the need for communicating the results with the beneficiaries, policy-makers and the implementing agencies.
ADB Country Director Hua Du said, the project of strategic plan has made a good start, but it is necessary to push the whole thing forward through inter-agency coordinated efforts.
She also underlined the need for not concluding the efforts immediately after the ADB support to the project ends, and suggested taking it as a government document.
Hua Du also urged other donors to come forward with their support to the project to accomplish the objective of ensuring proper monitoring and evaluation of development projects of Bangladesh as well as to ensure transparency and accountability of public expenditure.