The pond that was never dug or filled up!

People often cite the example of a proverbial pond while explaining the state of affairs with the public sector development projects. Some unscrupulous government officials, it was alleged, had embezzled funds in the name of digging a pond and, later, filling up the same. In fact, no pond was ever dug or filled up at the spot selected for the project.
The moot point one tries to highlight by citing the story is the widespread financial irregularities involved in the planning and execution of public sector projects.
A four-column front page story, headlined, 'Rasta sangskarer namey koti koti taka lootpat' (plundering crores of taka in the name of road repair), and ran by a Bangla contemporary also presented a vivid picture of the loot of public money in the name of road repair and maintenance.
Experts and donor agencies very often put special emphasis on the allocation of sufficient funds in the national budget for repair and maintenance of existing roads and highways. The government, though aware of the need for regular maintenance of the roads, allocates more funds for new road projects than on maintenance of existing ones. However, a large part of the funds allocated for maintenance and repair work is either wasted or misappropriated.
City corporations and pourashavas (municipalities) usually spent a substantial amount of their annual budgets on road maintenance and repair and more than a half of such allocation is eaten up by officials, contractors and muscle-flexing local political elements. In most cases, road construction contracts are grabbed by ruling party goons.
The victim of such widespread plundering of allocations is the quality of the repair and maintenance of roads and highways. A re-carpeted road is supposed to last, at least, for a couple of years. But it hardly lasts six months because of the poor quality work done by the contractors concerned. Contractors claim that they have no option other than resorting to poor quality work to ensure a reasonable return on their investment.
The money spent on the repair of potholes on roads and highways, in most cases, is mere wastage. The potholes usually surface within days after the repair work. The authorities concerned are supposed to pay contractors' bills after a reasonable observation of the quality of work. But the bills are settled within a week after their submission. The reason for such a hurry is not that difficult to guess.
The city corporations and pourashavas receive a good amount of money every year beyond their budgetary sources for the repair of roads. The state-run utility service providers and individuals are required to deposit funds with the corporations/ pourashavas concerned prior to cutting of any road for the purpose of laying or repairing water/gas/ sewerage lines. The proper use of the amount deposited so is never ensured. Roads usually dug for such purposes, in most instances, are not repaired for months after months, causing sufferings to the pedestrians.
However, the irregularities, witnessed in the maintenance and repair of roads and highways either by the city corporations or the roads and highways department or the local government engineering directorate (LGED), are nothing unique. An apparent loot of public funds is also visible in other areas of public sector development works. It is an open secret and none damns it.
The loot has been continuing unabatedly because politics is involved in it. The booty is shared by government officials, political elements, particularly those belonging to the party in power, and contractors. However, there are instances where the ruling party men share ill-gotten gains from contracts with the opposition men. This is usually done to ensure reciprocal gesture in the event of a change in the power matrix.  
The recent involvement of the Bangladesh Army in some major construction projects, including ones relating to roads, has yielded positive results. The army personnel not only have completed many projects on time but also have ensured quality work.
But the engagement of the army is not a suitable solution to problems involving hundreds of development projects worth billions of taka. The authorities would have to devise means to reduce the extent of wastage or embezzlement of funds meant for public sector projects. But the goal will be difficult to achieve in an environment, marked by poor governance and rotten political culture.
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