The World Bank (WB) will review performance of 15 development projects this week as it is not satisfied with utilisation of fund and the progress in their implementation, officials said Friday.
The WB has already informed the Economic Relations Division (ERD) and the government's implementing agencies about the poor execution of the projects in question.
"We would sit with the ERD and the relevant executing agencies on March 10 and 11 in Dhaka to review implementation of at least 15 projects the execution of which has been extremely slow and discuss ways on how to improve the situation," said an official at WB Dhaka office.
The WB official told the FE that they had picked up 15 Bank-funded projects and had already requested the ERD and relevant ministries to prepare for the review meeting.
The WB's current portfolio in Bangladesh consists of 30 projects with a commitment of nearly US$5.8 billion worth of loans and grants.
Out of the 15 projects, the WB identified some projects as "risky" ones due to their very unsatisfactory progress in implementation, an ERD official told the FE.
The risky projects are: $166 million Chittagong Water Supply Improvement, $76 million Dhaka Water Supply and Sanitation, $195 million Identification System for Enhancing Access to Services (IDEA) of the Election Commission project, and $35 million Disability and Children at Risk belonging to different ministries.
The WB has identified some other projects like the $306 million Investment Promotion and Financing Facility, $302 million second Rural Transport Improvement Project, and $75 million Rural Water Supply project as weak performers among the ongoing ones.
An ERD official said the progress of $166 million Chittagong Water Supply Improvement project is extremely poor although it was approved in March 2010 and is due for completion on December 31, 2015. The programs in execution of $76.0 million Dhaka water supply and sanitation project being implemented by Dhaka WASA is also in "unsatisfactory".
As per suggestions of the WB, the Dhaka WASA project was restructured in June 2013 scaling down targets to enable the project to be successfully completed within project deadline, the ERD official said.
Since the restructuring in June 2013, the project implementation has started to show progress and it is anticipated that the project will be able to meet its revised implementation target, he said.
The Election Commission's $195 million Identification System for Enhancing Access to Services (IDEA) project has seen hardly any progress for which the WB has marked it as "very unsatisfactory" one among 30 of its aided projects in Bangladesh.
The global lender has suggested speeding up the implementation or it (WB) would be forced to review its assistance for the project.
Another ERD official said they would sit to remove obstacles in implementation of projects which are facing various difficulties at different stages.
The WB helps Bangladesh to develop its infrastructure and cut poverty. It also helps to increase school enrolment, improve health status, expand renewable energy access, and construct rural roads and ensure safe drinking water supply.
In last fiscal 2012-13, the World Bank has provided $902 million worth of assistance to the government.
Since independence, the World Bank has provided nearly $16 billion worth of assistance to Bangladesh.
In October last year, the WB reviewed the projects where it is providing funds for their execution in a proper manner.
In addition to concrete actions, the joint review in the last meeting decided that in a number of cases readjustment and restructuring of project designs would be required to achieve greater development results, said the WB official.
