The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) has directed the ministries and departments concerned to put best efforts for quicker implementation of public-private partnership (PPP) projects, officials have said.
It has also asked them to save the time of project implementation by 25 to 30 per cent. Besides, the officials have also been instructed to set a timetable for making considerable progress in project implementation.
The directives have come at a recent meeting at the PMO with PMO Secretary Abul Kalam Azad in the chair
The meeting has also decided that effective measures have to be taken to encourage investments in PPP projects.
The meeting has asked a director general of the PMO to hold 2 to 3 meetings a month to review sector-wise progress in implementation of projects under the PPP.
According to sources, about 35 projects have been proposed to be implemented under the PPP arrangement. Of them, according to the PPP office, some are at the procurement stage, some are at the project preparation stage and some are at the contract signing stage.
A senior official at the ministry of shipping said the government high-ups were found to be very serious about the PPP arrangement.
They are asking for quicker implementation of the projects.
"The PMO is encouraging us to give preference to projects under the PPP arrangement so that over-dependence on foreign loan can be avoided," he said.
The government in the budget for the fiscal year (FY) 2009-10 first introduced the PPP and allocated Tk 25 billion for the purpose. It also allocated another Tk 30 billion in the FY 2010-11, Tk 30 billion in FY 2011-12 and Tk 25 billion for implementing 13 PPP projects in FY 2012-13.
In the first three fiscals not a single penny was spent from the allocation for PPP projects. Finance Minister AMA Muhith on different occasions blamed bureaucratic tangles for failure to undertake any project during the period.
At present projects like the Hemodialysis Centre at Chittagong Medical College Hospital, Hemodialysis Centre at National Institute of Kidney Diseases and Urology (NIKDU), NHA Housing Satellite Project at Mirpur, Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated Expressway and Dhaka-Elevated Expressway are at different stages of implementation.
Besides, projects like the 2nd Padma Multipurpose Bridge at Paturia-Goalundo, Flyover from Santinagar to Mawa Road via 4th (New) Bridge over the Buriganga River, upgradation of Dhaka Bypass to a four-lane one (Madanpur-Bhulta-Joydebpur), the 3rd Sea Port at Patuakhali, two jetties at Mongla Port, construction of Laldia Bulk Terminal and the Senior Citizen Health Care and Hospitality Complex are also under implementation.
According to the PPP office, projects like establishment of a 5-star Standard Beach Hotel along with an 18-hole Golf Course at Cox's Bazar, Dhaka-Chittagong 4-Lane access-controlled highway, Hi-tech Park at Kaliakoir, construction of a railway bridge over the river Jamuna near Fulchhari Bahadurabad Ghat, construction of a Railway Bridge parallel to the existing Bangabandhu Bridge with the option of a Dual-Gauge Double Track over the river Jamuna are all at the preparatory stage.
Sources said the PPP office would soon make power-point presentation at different ministries directing them to follow some steps in making decisions on PPP projects. Besides, the secretary and the principal secretary of the PMO will soon write to the secretaries of different ministries encouraging them to undertake projects under the PPP arrangement.
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