Mystery shrouds construction costs of a bridge

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FE Report
A government evaluation panel failed to find out the actual cost of the Kapashia Bridge project on the Shitalakha, the construction of which was completed in 2005.
The implementation, monitoring and evaluation division (IMED) of the planning ministry found the cost of the project to be Tk 13.33 billion calculated on the basis of all the project components.
By contrast, the Department of Roads and Highways, in its project completion report, put the actual cost of construction at Tk 15.95 billion, leaving a disparity between the two estimates.
The two-year construction project was taken up in fiscal 2001-02, but it dragged on to the fiscal 2004-05, thus enhancing the project implementation period by 67 per cent.
The revised project cost was Tk 16.28 billion, up by Tk 1.67 billion from the original approved cost.
"It remains a mystery how much actually was spent under the Kapashia bridge construction project," according to an executive summary of the evaluation report published recently by the IMED.
The report recommended that the communications ministry should launch a probe into determining the actual cost of the project to help stop recurrence of irregularities.
The case of Kapashia bridge project illustrates the irregularities in the financial management of the government agencies.
The project was also among 18 completed projects included in the annual development programme (ADP) of the fiscal 2004-05 under the communications ministry.
The IMED report said that the communications ministry was able to complete 18 out of 158 projects. Some 15 were investment projects while the rest three were technical assistance projects.
The IMED panel found that only five projects were completed in line with the approved project costs.
On the other hand, the cost increase of 11 projects ranged between 9.0 per cent and 100 per cent from the original approved cost, while it registered more than 100 per cent cost increase in case of the rest two projects.
The report rated only four projects as "satisfactory", 11 as "moderately satisfactory" and three as "not satisfactory,"
After analysing the project management, transparency in procurement, and completion of projects within approved time and cost.
Increased tender value, weak project management, faulty construction model, tardy pace of project implementation and land price hike were among the reasons that pushed the cost of the completed projects up, the IMED report said.
On the other hand, the IMED panel identified lack of allocations as per the approved project proposal, imprudent project formulation, and rise in actual targets as reasons behind the extension of project period.
The other poor-performing projects were the construction of Rajshahi city bypass road, the construction of Naogaon town bypass road, and Gorai bridge construction in Kushtia.
The report pointed out, of 1015 projects incorporated into the revised ADP of the fiscal 2005, a total of 175 projects were completed under 32 ministries and divisions. The number of completed projects was 17.24 per cent of the total projects.
The IMED report found that the rate of increase in actual spending from the original cost ranged from 1.0 per cent to maximum 300 per cent according to the ministries, divisions and agencies.