Development programmes hard hit

PROLONGED political agitation is beginning to tell on the rate of annual development plan's (ADP) implementation in the current fiscal. Going by what has been published in the press, an estimated 20 per cent of the ADP outlay of Tk.658.72 billion has been expended over the period July – December. All this is hardly encouraging news. Development works that include crucial infrastructure projects like the expansion of Dhaka-Chittagong four lane highway is all but stalled. The failure to move man and material along road and rail links have not helped in moving things along the right direction. And it is not simply construction that has suffered.
In the case of many development programmes, some contractors have consciously decided to go slow with their respective works in the hope that things will settle down after the general election on January 5. However, we are not all so sure that the conclusion of the January elections will result in an easing of political tensions. With the main opposition party-led alliance going for non-stop blockades, we wonder as to how the government feels that ADP implementation will pick up after January 5. There has been no sign of reconciliation between the two grand alliances. Nor has there been any indication of any talks to resolve the current political crisis. With the two major political parties, Awami League and BNP firmly entrenched in their respective positions, the likely irresolution is going to cast a shadow across the economy.