Costs of 4 projects revised upwards by 73pc

The combined cost of four development projects went up by 72.84 per cent after the government yesterday revised upwards their allocation and extended deadlines.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) gave its consent to six development projects.

Of them, the estimated cost of four projects rose to Tk 7,002 crore, up from Tk 4,051 crore when they were undertaken.

Planning Minister MA Mannan blamed both internal and external factors for the cost and time extensions.

"Sometimes, we have to increase expenditures for local reasons. There is negligence on the part of officials."

"Similarly, projects are extended while aligning them with the conditions of development partners," Mannan said.

Projects also face delays during their implementation period because of natural calamities. "This time, we are facing delays owing to the coronavirus pandemic," the minister said.

The government is emphasising carrying out proper feasibility studies before taking up a project and putting in place an adequate workforce to minimise the requirement for a project revision, he said.

One of the projects that got extension is the countrywide pond and canal dredging.

The cost went up to Tk 1,757 crore from Tk 1,334 crore and the implementation has been pushed back by a year to June 2024.

Under the project, 2,000-kilometres canals would be dredged and 2,111 acres of ponds or lakes be excavated to expand the storage capacity of holding water.

The project has been extended because of the inclusion of determining the amount of land to be dredged or excavated through digital surveys and the required logistics to carry out data processing; changes in the alignment of canals; verifying feasibility at field levels after disputes with landlords; and adding adequate workforce and consultant for hydraulic or structural designs.

The modern food storage construction project has been revised for the second time.

The cost rose to Tk 3,568 crore. Of which, Tk 3,499.94 crore would come from the World Bank as loans.

The implementation period has been extended by three years and four months to October 2023.

Under the project, eight steel silos would be constructed to increase the country's food grain storage capacity by 535,500 tonnes.

There had been delays in various phases of implementation of the project. The government also had to secure no-objection certificates from the WB on procurement issues and there were complexities over following conditions, according to a document of the planning ministry.

Because of the delay, the cost to construct the silos has gone up by 89.84 per cent. As the project overran, the operating expenditure and the cost for consultants also went up, the document said.

The Dhaka-Narayanganj-Demra Sewerage System Improvement Project (2nd phase) has been revised, increasing the cost to Tk 1,299.91 crore, up 132 per cent from Tk 558.19 crore set aside initially.

The cost of the physical works has gone up thanks to the detailed design prepared through field survey. The cost for land acquisition also increased, the document said.

The implementation period has been extended by two years to June 2023. The project, among other purposes, is expected to lessen the sufferings caused by water-loggings to about 20 lakh people in the area.

The second phase of a project to expand fishery technologies to union level has been revised for the second time.

Now, the allocation rose by 56 per cent to Tk 378.38 crore, which was Tk 242.28 crore initially. The project implementation period was extended by two years to June 2022.

The project aims to increase fish production through the use of modern technologies.

Initially, the project was implemented in 3,000 unions under 355 upazilas. As the project has more than doubled fish production to 21,791 tonnes from 10,889 tonnes, the government plans to retain the growth in fish production.

Now, the government wants to expand the project to 4,300 unions under 464 upazilas.

The Ecnec gave its consent to a Tk 3,586-crore project to turn the Sylhet-Tamabil Highway into four lanes.

Of the budget, Tk 2,970.55 crore would come from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank in loans and the rest from the government's coffer. The tenure of the project is until June 2025.

The project was taken up to turn the Sylhet-Tamabil Highway into four lanes, including creating passages to allow slow-moving vehicles and establish a sub-regional link through the Dhaka-Sylhet-Tamabil corridor.

The project would make it easier to travel to and from the land port, economic zones and export processing zones.

The Ecnec also approved a project to improve and expand the Matlab-Meghna-Dhonagoda Embankment road. The project would establish an improved road network between Matlab Uttar upazila and Chandupur and Cumilla.

The Tk 121-crore project would be implemented between July 2020 and June 2022.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina presided over the virtual meeting of the Ecnec.

The prime minister, Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal and Mannan joined the meeting from Ganobhaban through a video conference, while other Ecnec members were connected from the NEC Auditorium, according to UNB news agency.