The communications ministry has sought an additional allocation of Tk 12.0 billion for the next fiscal year for completing its development projects under the Road Division properly.
"The fund is badly needed for completing 56 projects including implementation of large projects and projects involving less than Tk 500 million each," a senior communications ministry official said.
Timely implementation of the projects was uncertain in the absence of the fund as required in the ADP (Annual Development Programme), he said.
A ministry of finance (MoF) official said the enhanced amount of money was sought by the communications ministry to complete the ongoing development work on highways at the national, regional and district levels under the Medium-Term Budgetary Framework (MTBF) in the next fiscal year.
M. A. N. Siddique, secretary of the communications ministry, sent a letter recently to Fazle Kabir, secretary of the MoF, seeking the allocation in the upcoming budget.
The road division is trying to reduce the number of projects through completing implementable projects through allocation on a priority basis in the current fiscal year. For this, the authorities are under pressure to implement the mega projects.
The demand for money under the mega projects was Tk 35.81 billion, but Tk 23.81 was allocated, less by Tk 12.0 billion than the amount sought, sources said.
Presently, a total of 121 projects are being implemented by the road division under the ministry of communications. A good number of the projects are of national importance, a senior official of the ministry has said.
They are: The Dhaka-Chittagong four-lane highway prpgramme, development of Joydevpur-Mymensingh road, Jatrabari-Kanchpur eight-lane project, Joydebpur-Chandra-Tangail four-lane project, Greater Dhaka Sustainable Urban Transport Project, Eastern Bangladesh Bridge Improvement Project, construction of 3 bridges at Khepupara, Hajipur and Mahipur, and maintenance, repair and renovation of the road networks under Roads and Highways Department (RHD), according to the letter.
However, the road division sought a total of Tk 54.87 billion in the ADP for the next fiscal. But the allocation is set to be fixed at Tk 42.87 billion, less by Tk 12 billion than the demand, according to the letter.
"The expenditure for almost every project under the ministry rises and each takes more time than stipulated for implementation. This has reached a maximum level," said a source wishing not to be named.
The additional fund, if made available, will push up the allocation for the ministry during the next fiscal to Tk 54.87 billion against the original allocation set to stand at Tk 42.87 billion.
