The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) has proposed substantial allocations for honoraria, travel bills, and car rentals in a pontoon-repair project, strongly defying government restrictions on unnecessary and luxury expenditures, officials say.
It has kept aside Tk 1.20 million for honoraria for the regular civil servants who will attend meetings like project monitoring and tender evaluations during the tenure.
Besides, the state-run water transport authority has sought Tk 7.20 million to rent cars for, and pay travel bills of, project implementation and monitoring officials, in addition to their regular salaries.
The Planning Commission (PC) has expressed reservations about the unnecessary and less important expenditures to save public funds during the ongoing austerity period.
Although the BIWTA should complete its repair and maintenance works with its own income or operational budget, undertaking projects from the development budget is unexpected, says a senior commission official.
He says the government agencies should avoid such unnecessary and less important expenditures as the government has strongly discouraged luxury and ambitious spending.
A close review of the Tk 480.70 million project proposal reveals allocations that directly clash with the government's current austerity directives.
The inclusion of the allocations comes at a time when the Ministry of Finance has strictly prohibited state, autonomous, and regulatory bodies from spending public funds on luxury components, specifically targeting unnecessary vehicle rentals, domestic or foreign travels, and excessive honoraria.
The government initiated these measures to ease pressure on the national budget and curb institutional inflation.
Another Planning Commission official, speaking on condition of anonymity, expresses surprise at the unusual demands, labelling the Tk 8.40 million combined non-essential costs as both "unnecessary and unusual" for a project primarily meant for physical structural repairs.
"When the government is actively enforcing spending cuts across all sectors, allocating millions for transport perks and meeting allowances under the guise of an engineering and replacement project raises serious questions about accountability," the senior official notes.
The core objective of the project is vital for public safety, focusing on the urgent repair and replacement of ageing, weathered, and damaged pontoons across major river ports and launch terminals in Bangladesh.
However, critics point out that the administrative overhead requested by the BIWTA risks overshadowing the project's primary objectives.
The proposal is currently awaiting final evaluation and approval from the planning ministry, where it is expected to face heavy scrutiny of the controversial expenditures before getting the green light.
According to the project proposal, the BIWTA would repair or replace pontoons at different launch terminals, including Gabtoli, Sadarghat, Narayanganj, Sonargaon, Bhairab, Bhuapur, Ostogram, Rajbari, Kaptai, Chandpur, Laxmipur, Homna, Barishal, Babuganj, Charfesson, Bera, and Kazipur.
Under the BIWTA, freight and passenger launches use a total of 650 pontoons across the country.
The agency wants to repair 105 of those as they are in shambles.
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