Fast-track projects lag in making info public

Only three out of eight fast-track projects in Bangladesh have dedicated websites for public information and those too contain no updated information on their progress.

The remaining five are mentioned on the websites of their implementing agencies. Just one of them regularly updates information.

All websites provide some basic information about the projects. But most do not provide information pertaining to procurement and expenditure.

Experts say people have a huge interest in these major infrastructure projects, including that over the construction of the Padma bridge and metro rail line, for the potential they bear in changing the country's landscape once complete.

And public access to vital information, especially about the funding and expenditure of the projects, is essential to ensure transparency and accountability, they added.

"Projects like these are undertaken in the public interest and with public money. So, the people have the right to know all relevant information," Transparency International Bangladesh Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman told The Daily Star on Saturday.

He said people have the right to know about project rationales and intended outcomes and detailed itemised budgets, including funding sources.

They should also be informed of the project approval, implementing agency selection and procurement contracting processes, social and environmental impact assessments, he said.

"Such information also needs to be regularly updated in tandem with the progress in project implementation," Iftekharuzzaman said.

The lack of public access to such information is contradictory to the basic principles of democratic accountability and good governance, as well as the provisions of proactive disclosure under the Right to Information Act 2009, he added.

This correspondent went through all the websites on Saturday and found that most do not provide such information.

The Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project, which involves building a 6.15-kilometre bridge over the Padma river at a cost of Tk 30,193 crore, has its own dedicated website and some basic information.

But it does not have any updates on the financials while all it has to show for the construction's progress are some photos and videos.

The website does not contain any information regarding procurement.

The Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Line-6, the country's first-ever metro rail project, encompasses establishing rail connectivity between Uttara and Motijheel.

Although the project does not have a dedicated website, Dhaka Mass Transit Company, the agency implementing the project, publishes reports on the physical progress regularly on a monthly basis.

The website has some procurement-related information but does not contain updates on the financials.

The Chattogram-Cox's Bazar rail link project was undertaken to incorporate Cox's Bazar into the country's rail network by extending a 100km rail track from the port city.

The Tk 1,852 crore project does not have any website. Bangladesh Railway, the project's implementing agency, occasionally publishes monthly progress reports of all projects it has undertaken, including this one.

The latest report is from December last year.

Although the progress report carries physical and financial progress, the website does not contain any other detail of the project.

The 2,400MW Rooppur nuclear power plant, the single largest project undertaken in Bangladesh, is being constructed in Pabna.

The Tk 113,092 crore project has a dedicated website that contains a toolbar titled "project progress". But it does not offer any information regarding the progress.

The website contains some information about contracts but does not give anything over its financials.

Another project is constructing a 1,200MW coal-fired power plant in Matarbari of Cox's Bazar at a cost of Tk 51,854 crore. It does not have any website.

The website of the implementing agency, Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh, provides information on the physical and financial progress up to December last year.

But it does not give details on the financials of the contracts. However, unlike any other project, audit reports of the past four years have been uploaded on the website.

The project on the construction of a 1,320MW coal-fired power plant in Rampal of Bagerhat at a cost of Tk 16,000 crore does not have any website.

The website of Bangladesh India Friendship Power Company, the implementing agency, has some basic information but updates on the physical and financial progress could not be found.

Users have to share an email address and the mobile number to access some tabs, making availing information difficult.

The government is implementing two projects worth Tk 8,356 crore that would facilitate another project over building a seaport in Payra of Patuakhali, which was initially planned to be a deep seaport but changed last year.

The projects do not have any website. The website of the Payra Port Authority, the implementing body, only uploaded a progress report for May 2021. There is no information about the contractors or contract figures.

Afzal Hossain, project director of the Padma rail link project, said he would give necessary instructions to officials concerned to update the information.

"Updated information is supposed to be there," said Shafiqul Islam, director of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge Project. "Okay, I will see."

"We had started work for developing the website but the individual responsible for it passed away suddenly, causing the delay," said Mofizur Rahman, director of the Chattogram-Cox's Bazar rail link project.

"Our website is now at the trial stage and we will launch it soon."

Abul Kalam Azad, director of the Matarbari coal-based power plant project, said, "As all other coal-powered projects have been cancelled, the website of Coal Power Generation Company Bangladesh is actually our website."

He claimed that the website contained information on the physical and financial progress up until January. But this correspondent found information on only the physical progress, that too up till December last year. 

Rezaul Karim, who served as the deputy director of the Rampal power plant project till February 17 and is now working at Bangladesh Power Development Board, a partner of the company that is implementing the project, said he would talk with the officials concerned to update the website.