Deep development fund cut by Tk 112b for road transport

Road transport and highways division sees a deep cut in its development funds by Tk 112 billion as the interim government struggles to make two ends meet through tightfisted spending amid inherited financial crunch.
Officials said the Budget Management Committee (BMC) of the Road Transport and Highways Division (RTHD) made the decision to slash across-the-board ADP allocation in the current fiscal year for all of the institutions under the division.
The RTHD decided to cut Tk 6.98 billion or about 97 per cent from the development allocation Tk 7 billion for Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) in the fiscal year 2024-25.
The decision came following delayed tender for procuring 340 CNG-run single-decker AC buses for the state-owned transport corporation, said high officials of the RTHD.
The ADP allocation for the road and highways department (RHD) is set to be pared down by Tk 71.27 billion and for the Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) by Tk17.94 billion following the trimming of the annual development programme (ADP).
The division received an allocation worth Tk 320.42 billion in the current fiscal year under the ADP, but the BMC decided to propose Tk 208.56 billion for the revised ADP (RADP), 34.91-percent lower than the original allocation.
The BMC meeting, held recently with Md Ehsanul Hoque, Senior Secretary of the RTHD, in the chair, also decided to maintain the revenue-mobilisation target of the division unchanged at Tk 59.73 billion.
However, the officials of the RTHD expressed doubt about achieving the revenue target due to challenges.
Officials said that maximum of the revenue earnings of the RHD generated from the rent of land and toll on roads and bridges.
"Toll collection from a huge number of roads and bridges is being stopped due to political instability, which would hamper achieving target worth Tk20 billion," said one official.
The meeting also decided to reduce the major MPM allocation to maintain roads by Tk 8.15 billion.
The division proposed to revise allocation of Tk 18 billion for major periodic maintenance programme or PMP which was Tk 26.15 billion in the original allocation.
The officials said the revised allocation for the RTHD is to be proposed Tk 159.57 billion, while Tk 122.35 billion from government's own fund and Tk 37.22 billion from foreign sources.
The original allocation for the department was Tk 230.84 billion: Tk180.94billion from the domestic sources and Tk 49.91 billion from foreign sources.
Officials said the decision on the fund cut came responding to the delay in ADP utilization and decision of the interim government to revisit the necessity of the existing projects, undertaken by the deposed government.
Dr Shamsul Hoque, director of the accident research institute (ARI) at BUET, says the current ADP contains a large number of development projects with significant questions regarding necessity and justification for costs.
"The implementation of these projects should be accelerated after reducing costs following a review. However, the funding for the necessary projects should be ensured," he added.

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