New year, old problems: Project revisions at 1st Ecnec meeting of 2022 despite PM’s directive
Old problems greet the Prime Minister-led Executive Committee of the National Economic Council when it convenes today for its first meeting for 2022: applications for project revisions.
Time and again, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has expressed annoyance over the unusual delays and cost escalations and even gave several directives to check cynical project revisions.
And yet, in 2022, the phenomenon is alive and kicking. Of the 10 projects that would be placed in today's meeting, seven are for revisions. The Daily Star has a copy of the proposals prepared for the meeting.
When the projects were conceived, they were supposed to cost Tk 3,099 crore. Their estimated expenditure has now billowed close to five times to Tk 14,961 crore, making a mockery of the government's continuous emphasis on formulating appropriate project plans.
The projects are seeking an extra year to a full decade, and that too after several revisions, adding fuel to the longstanding criticism that a project ends up costing the taxpayer exponentially more money and time by the time it is completed.
Robust projection and planning are needed before starting any project, said Towfiqul Islam Khan, a senior research fellow at the Centre for Policy Dialogue, a private think-tank.
Both of the features seem to be lagging.
The initial phase of a project -- which involves feasibility study, land acquisition and supply of human resources -- takes longer while implementing projects in Bangladesh, according to Khan.
As a result, the projects do not get completed within the stipulated time and need revision. "Ultimately, the expenditure of the project increases," he added.
For instance, one of the seven projects was taken up in 2010 for completion in June 2014. It has gone through three revisions and will now be seeking extra time and money.
That project is Ashrayan-2, a landmark endeavour of the Awami League-led government to alleviate poverty and homelessness.
Its outlay now stands at Tk 4,826.2 crore, four times higher than the original cost.
But that is not enough. It now needs another year and an extra Tk 6,316 crore.
The reason for the higher budget is the increased construction cost of a single house for durability.
Similarly, the project to equip the youth with skills to develop mobile games and apps has gone through multiple revisions.
With the view to getting a slice of the rapidly growing international mobile gaming market that is worth about $90 billion, the government took up the project in 2016 at a cost of about Tk 282 crore.
In the past revisions, more time was sought but not more funds. But this time, an additional Tk 49 crore has been sought and a two-year extension.
The revision is needed due to new activities under the project such as making a 10-episode animated movie titled "Khoka" on the childhood of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and making 12 games under the game-based web platform.
The project called BEPZA Economic Zone Mirsarai-1st Phase, which was taken to attract local and foreign investment, is now seeking revision with an additional expenditure of Tk 552 crore and two more years.
The original project cost was Tk 750 crore and the completion date was June last year.
The reasons for the added time and cost are the increase in the number of industrial plots from 250 to 539, additional land development and construction works, fire stations and other construction works, etc.
A Tk 66 crore project was taken up in 2010 for basic and applied research on jute, one of the major export earners for Bangladesh, over a span of three years.
About 11 years have passed and the project has not been completed. It has gone through two revisions, with an additional Tk 63 crore allotted.
Now, it will seek another Tk 7 crore and two years for the continuation of the research and other activities.
Another project seeking revision is the one for the building of logistics and fleet maintenance facilities for the Bangladesh Coast Guard. It was approved in July 2018 for completion by June 2021 for Tk 448 crore.
Its cost will soar to Tk 584.4 crore and it will need two more years.
A Tk 82 crore project on modernisation, digitisation and automation of the central broadcasting system of Bangladesh Television (first phase) was taken in April 2018 and was set to end in June last year.
Now, it has called for an additional Tk 36 crore and another year and a half to wrap up as the costs for construction of non-residential buildings and procuring engineering and other equipments have increased.
A Tk 302 crore project was taken up in 2019 for the prevention of erosion of the right bank of Brahmaputra river in Chilmari and Ulipur upazilas of Kurigram district. It was scheduled for completion in June this year.
Another year and another Tk 145 crore are needed due to the increase of river bank conservation work from 4.8 kilometres to 6.3 km for morphological changes in the Brahmaputra river and an expansion of the embankment area.
Comments