Seven hurdles that are holding back timely completion of foreign-funded projects

The Planning Commission has identified seven hurdles standing in the way of the smooth implementation of foreign-funded projects, a move that may go on to help the government avoid unnecessary delays and save money.

Cost and time overruns have been a regular part of the project cycle in Bangladesh, inflicting a waste of resources on taxpayers and depriving targeted beneficiaries of benefitting from the timely execution of schemes.

"From preparing tender documents to the final stage, there has been a delay in every phase in getting approval from development partners," according to a report of the planning commission.

Last week, the commission placed the report with the government's high-level committee that oversees foreign-funded project implementation.

The committee, headed by Prime Minister's Principal Secretary Tofazzel Hossain Miah, was formed on January 24 and it held its first meeting on March 6.

At the meeting, the principal secretary requested the Economic Relations Division (ERD) to engage foreign diplomats working in Bangladesh and heads of development partners to ease rules related to approvals, a planning ministry official said.

In the report, the commission highlighted a range of issues linked to the sluggish implementation.

In the past five years, the annual allocation for foreign-funded projects was cut by 11 percent to 20 percent in the revised annual development programme (ADP) compared to the original ADP.

The slow implementation did not stop there: 10 percent to 25 percent of the funds allocated under the revised ADP remained unspent during the period.

According to the report, another hurdle is a lack of coordination between the concerned ministry or division and the development partner in the case of project selection, formulating project documents and not appointing the focal person.

The report says there has been a tendency to revise a project repeatedly after its approval due to the absence of the standard project document. It points out the absence of a qualitative feasibility study and an environmental impact assessment.

It also says there is a lack of training for project directors on how to use foreign funds. Besides, when an official is tasked with an additional duty, they can't set aside enough time to oversee it.

This problem might have resolved had implementing agencies stuck to the government guideline on deploying project directors.

The guideline calls for setting up a pool of project directors. And during meetings of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec), the prime minister also instructed the implementing agencies to pick the project director from the pool and allow them to continue working until the scheme is executed.

The directive was followed during a number of mega projects. Even one project director was permitted to keep supervising it despite his retirement. However, officials say, it is not maintained in most projects.

Consequently, the planning commission has suggested constituting the pool, assigning the director when projects obtain the go-ahead, and training them on how to ensure the efficient use of loans.

The delay caused by development partners in disbursing funds, contractors' lack of efficiency, and employing an inadequate number of staff from the government side have been identified as barriers.

In order to speed up implementation, the government has devised software named the Project Planning System (PPS). This will be used for drawing up projects, carrying out their approvals and amendments, and restructuring, all online.

The PPS is now integrating all types of software used by the planning commission, the ERD, the finance division, and the Implementation Monitoring & Evaluation Division.

The PPS will cut the time needed for project processing and ensure transparency and accountability, the planning commission said.

Ministries and divisions have been asked to send projects through the software from now onwards, said a meeting source.

The planning commission had made several recommendations to overcome the hurdles. It said a focal person should be appointed at the beginning of a project.

The government has also framed a guideline to promote green and climate-resilient development. Thus, implementing agencies have been asked to undertake projects under the policy since all development partners are prioritising tackling climate change.