The Roads and Highways Department (RHD) has sought additional funds and time extension for construction of three bridges almost two years after the expiry of the project's tenure, officials said Friday.
Government officials said the RHD has sought the extension of the tenures of the bridges' project by two more years and Tk 620 million in extra funds for the 3rd Buriganga, the 2nd Shitalakhya and the Teesta bridge project. The project was originally scheduled to be completed in the fiscal year 2009-10. But it got extension from the PC on three occasions after the expiry of its tenure.
Planning Commission (PC) sources said the RHD continued work on the project even after the expiry of the extended tenure without taking any permission from the PC. The Department recently sent a development project proposal (DPP) seeking extra funds and extension of completion time of the project up to June 2015.
"We have not found any rationale for granting any additional fund. We do not have the authority to revise a project the tenure of which completed two years ago," a senior PC official said requesting for anonymity.
"As per government rules, we can only revise those projects, which are under implementation," he said.
The RHD's demand for revising the DPP after completion of its project tenure is a clear violation of the government rules and regulations, the official added.
The project, which started in 2003, had already been revised three times until June 2012, enhancing its cost by Tk 515.1 million to Tk. 3.17 billion.
Another PC official said the RHD before framing of the Revised Annual Development Programme (RADP) for the current FY 2014 had sought inclusion of the project seeking higher funds and more time.
He said: "We did not include it in the RADP. We are scrutinising the project. Recently, we have sent it to the Planning Minister for his decision."
According to the revised DPP of RHD, it has sought Tk 160 million in additional funds for paying outstanding bills to the contractors and Tk 460 million to meet other expenditures, he told the FE.
The official said they had found that the unpaid outstanding bills submitted by the contractors to be correct, but the extra Tk 460 million as has been claimed was not made clear in the DPP.
“If we allow such a project to go ahead, then other government agencies and ministries would be encouraged to violate the rules and regulations of the state,” the official added.
An RHD official said they had already completed construction of the Buriganga, the Shitalakhya and the Teesta bridges.
"But some more funds are needed to pay outstanding bills to the contractors and complete some small works of the project," he said.
