Each MP to get Tk 200m fund for development

The government is set to allocate Tk 200 million development fund to each of the lawmakers in addition to their current Tk 150 million fund as it is going to take up a Tk 61.75 billion project on political consideration, officials said Saturday.
Government officials said the Local Government Division (LGD) would allocate the money for road and market development works in each of the constituencies across the country.
Development analysts, however, have criticised the government move for allocating such a huge amount of public money for less priority works instead of giving it to the priority projects.
"Getting repeated pressure from most of the members of parliament (MPs), we are forced to undertake the Tk 61.75 billion project. It will offer Tk 200 million fund to each of the MPs across the country for development works," said a LGD official.
He told the FE: "We've got hundreds of DO letters from the MPs for giving allocation for development in their respective constituencies, especially for the road construction. Considering their demands, the project has been taken up," the official told the FE.
Officials said some 284 MPs had sent DO letters for money to their own constituencies so that they could carry out development works.
The Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) will implement the Tk 61.75 billion project titled "Important rural infrastructure development on priority basis (phase-2)".
This project will be executed during the July 2015- June 2019 period.
Currently, the LGED is working to execute first phase of Tk 48.92 billion similar project. Under this project, each of the lawmakers has got Tk 150 million fund for development of their respective areas. The phase-1 will be completed in December 2015.
A development analyst Dr Ahsan H Mansur told the FE that this is totally a politically-motivated project.
"Priority development projects like Dhaka-Chittagong, Dhaka-Mymensingh and Dhaka-Elenga four-lane road development works are suffering from fund shortage in their execution cycle. But the government is allocating such a huge fund for non-priority and politically-motivated projects which are not viable," he said.
Dr Mansur, executive director of the Policy Research Institute, said: "The lawmakers should not be involved in development works. There is a  government administration which is assigned for  development works."
Another LGD official said: "As per requests of the MPs, we have undertaken road and market improvement projects at each of the constituencies allocating Tk200 million. The development works in the constituencies are selected on the basis of the requests of the MPs."
Although there is a Tk 48.92 billion similar kind of project going on in the constituencies, recommended by the respective lawmakers, we are forced to take up the phase-2 of the project, he said.
According to the project proposal, the LGED will construct 442 kilometres of upazila roads, 1,420 km of union roads, 6,210 km village roads, 1,105 metres of bridges and culverts on upazila roads, 14,276 metres of bridges and culverts on union roads, maintain 4,593 kms of roads and 1,442 metres of bridges and culverts, develop 117 rural markets, build 56 boat-landing stations, and plant trees on 1,000km roads.
Out of the Tk 61.75 billion project cost, Tk 2.84 billion has been allocated for physical contingency, Tk 1.15 billion for price contingency, Tk 100 million for land acquisition, Tk 900 million for revenue and taxes and Tk 600 million for vehicle purchase and maintenance.
A Planning Commission official told the FE that they got the project proposal from the LGD. "Now we will scrutinise its viability and then will recommend for approval."
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