Important Rural Infrastructure Development Project: Bills cleared but no trace of work

The block allocation of hundreds of crores of taka made to lawmakers for implementing Important Rural Infrastructure Development Project (IRIDP) failed to yield the desired benefit due to political influence, nepotism, extortion and the lack of a specific legal framework and monitoring, says a TIB report published yesterday.

Work quality of about two-thirds of the schemes to build rural roads, construct bridges and culverts under IRIDP was not satisfactory, said the report which focused on the allocation of block funds for the last 15 years.

Staggeringly, researchers could not find any existence of 26 schemes, although final bills for those were withdrawn.

The report also said MPs have not taken on any schemes on three other objectives of the project, like increasing production of agricultural and non-agricultural products, their marketing facilities and accelerating rural employment.

Lawmakers are keener on taking up schemes that are only related to development of the rural road system, construction of bridges and culverts and development of growth centres and hat bazaars, all of which give them more scope for corruption and making money, experts said.

Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) also estimated that financial corruption among various stakeholders during different stages of tender, withdrawal of final bill and security deposit, amounted to around Tk 27.20 crore to 41.73 crore.

The TIB in their research tilted "Governance Challenges in the Implementation of the Infrastructure Development Project under Constituency-Based Block Allocation", analysed 628 schemes worth Tk 298 crore.

Of the projects, 464 were under IRIDP-1 and the rest under IRIDP-2.

The Important Rural Infrastructure Development Project 1 (IRIDP-1) covers projects from March 2010 to December 2014, when each of the 300 constituencies got block allocation of Tk 3 crore per year for five years.

The IRIDP-2 covers projects from July 2015 to June 2019 when 284 constituencies (excluding 16 seats in city corporation areas) got Tk 5 crore each year for four years.

The study randomly selected a total of 50 out of 300 parliamentary constituencies. One upazila of each constituency was selected through random sampling.

The research data was collected from May to December 2019 and the data analysis was done until March 2020.

The study interviewed 341 key persons, including MPs, government officials concerned, local representatives, contractors and media personnel. It also held 180 group discussions with the beneficiaries and others.

"[There were] Complaints of extorting commissions from the contractor at a fixed rate [1-2 percent] in 86 percent of the selected constituencies -- either directly in party fund [one-time] or by the MP through personal assistants," alleged the research.

The "commission money" amounted to between Tk 15 lakh and 40 lakh in each constituency, said the report.

Although e-tendering has been introduced to curb corruption, systemic irregularities exist where oversight bodies, contractors, MPs, local public representatives and influential syndicates are involved, TIB said.

The study said of the total schemes in the IRIDP-1, construction of roads accounted for 59.5 percent, roads and culverts/drains 28.9 percent, bridges and culverts 10.3 percent and growth centres 1.3 percent.

In the completed IRIDP-2, road construction covered 62.2 percent, road culverts/drains 36 percent, and bridges and culverts 1.8 percent.

"People taking on schemes prefer making roads and constructing bridges and culverts as it gives them more scope for corruption. They also want to show off the direct impact of the scheme they have undertaken, which is why they prefer making roads and bridges," researcher Juliet Rossette told The Daily Star.

She said lawmakers may think that if they build roads and bridges, it will help the pace of development.

Sixty-eight percent of the schemes was implemented within the stipulated time mentioned in the tender, while 32 percent needed extra time. Seventy-four percent of the schemes were done fully and 21.5 percent partially, the report said.

The research said work quality of 33 percent schemes was "not good", 30 percent "not good, not bad" and 37 percent was good.

Only 14.5 percent of all schemes was repaired. And among the unrepaired, 42 percent were not in good condition.

No complaints were lodged against 77.6 percent of the schemes, said the report, reasoning that complaints are not made due to threats and harassment.

And if the contractor is a relative/acquaintance/party worker of the MPconcerned, people are less interested in lodging any complaint because of fear, the report said.

Although the Planning Commission has a uniform policy for all development projects, there is no specific policy or guideline for the planning and implementation of the bulk allocation for the constituency, the report added.

"[There was a] Lack of complete evaluation of this development project by IMED [Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division] of the planning commission as it was a politically motivated one," the report said.

It was in 2005 that the then finance minister approved the allocation of Tk 2 crore for each parliamentary constituency following a proposal of block allocation by the treasury and opposition MPs.

A project was later approved at the Ecnec meeting and the allocation per constituency gradually increased. However, the 50 women members of reserved seats in parliament are not covered under this scheme.

Addressing the virtual press conference, TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said their survey found that people's involvement in the government development schemes was limited.

People's "participation" had entirely been restricted within the party and in the grasp of local leaders and activists, he said.

As local public representatives were at the helm of such development schemes, it was expected people's participation would be greater in those than in other projects, he added.

Also, there was no preventive measure against corruption in the government schemes. The study found no measure for ensuring accountability even after allegations of corruption were raised, he added.

Iftekharuzzaman said ideally, the lawmakers should keep themselves away from the government's development activities.

However, as lawmakers' involvement in such activities has become a culture in the country, what should be done is to neutrally and professionally evaluate their deficiencies and shortcomings in such development activities of the past 15 years, he said.

Based on the evaluation, together with international experiences, strong legal, institutional, and policy frameworks should be formulated before taking the next steps, he added.

He said the primary role of lawmakers is to hold the government accountable.

Their role is to formulate law and take part in parliamentary debates and discussions representing people of their constituencies, he said.

When they get involved in events like the government's development activities, purchase or distribution, a "conflict of interest" is created and in such situations, it might not be possible for them to play their primary role of making the government accountable, said the TIB executive director.

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The report also made nine recommendations, including making an impartial and comprehensive evaluation of the projects under block allocation, formulation of specific legal frameworks or policies, detailing instructions for the scheme selection process, formulation of schemes based on geographical location and appropriateness, representation of local people in relevant coordination committees to ensure people's participation and a reduction of political influence in the decision-making process.

"Information boards should be set up in areas where schemes are implemented. On the information board, details of the scheme, budget, deadline, names and contact numbers of the engineer and contractor, etc. must be disclosed," the report also said in its recommendations, adding all types of information about this project must be published on a website and regularly updated.

"Initiatives should be taken to plan and implement schemes directly consistent with the objective of increasing marketing facilities and accelerating rural employment, including providing assistance to increase production of agricultural and non-agricultural products," the report recommended.

"In order to establish good governance, effective accountability system [Code of Conduct for MPs, disclosure of financial accounts including their activities, area-based public hearings for development projects implemented in their involvement] should be introduced to reduce the tendency and opportunities for corruption," it added.