The journey to zero on 101 projects

Infographic: TBS

Some 101 development projects showed no physical progress during the last fiscal year, indicating a persistent issue with project implementation, according to a report by the Implementation Monitoring and Evaluation Division (IMED).

The report found that some projects spent salaries and office expenses only on staff without any progress in implementation.

It indicates that 69 projects have had less than 25% physical progress, which is a disappointing outcome. Similarly, 99 projects show progress between 26% and 50%, while 208 projects made 51% to 75% progress, but their implementation is still unsatisfactory.

The report, which includes public-interest projects in the health, communication infrastructure, and power sectors, will be presented at a meeting of the National Economic Council (NEC) chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday.

One of the projects with zero progress is the construction of a kidney hospital in Sylhet, which began in July 2020. The delay in the appointment of consultants by the social welfare ministry has stalled progress, and nothing of the Tk20 lakh allocated for the project in the last fiscal year has been spent. As a result, there has been no physical progress on the project.

"The project has not progressed due to the complex process of hiring consultants. As a result, the funds could not be spent," the then project director, Nibas Ranjan Das, told The Business Standard.

The Patuakhali Medical College and Hospital construction project also did not see any physical progress in the fiscal 2021-22 despite receiving an allocation of Tk35 crore.

Another such project is the construction of a broad gauge railway between the Chilahati and Haldibari borders for rail connectivity with India.

Project Director Abdur Rahim said that the project, which got underway in 2018, was supposed to have been completed in 2022. But that did not happen due to various complexities, including contractors' appointments and complications related to land acquisition.

"The project was extended last year, but due to the delay in the approval process of the amendment proposal, implementation was not possible in the last financial year," he added.

Eight of the 35 railway projects did not make any progress in the last financial year.

They include the conversion of a metre-gauge rail line into a dual-gauge one in the Akhaura-Sylhet project.

After its implementation got underway, the cost of the project was reviewed on the instructions of the Prime Minister's Office. Later, the Chinese contractor was asked to reduce the cost, a move which led to the implementation of the project being stopped instead.

As a result, work on the project started in April 2019 but there was no progress. In the last financial year, a nominal allocation of Tk1 lakh was given in its favour.

In the power sector, three projects, including the Shahjibazar 100MW gas turbine project, made no progress in the last financial year.

Former Planning Division secretary Md Mamun-Al-Rashid offered an explanation for the lack of progress in many development projects.

Speaking to TBS, he said design approval is required before construction work on a project begins, and funds cannot be spent unless the design is approved. Again, if the tender process is not completed, the money cannot be spent and construction cannot start unless land acquisition is done.

And the consent of development partners is required at various stages of implementation, but the work cannot go on until their consent is obtained. Thus, the progress of some projects runs into a deadlock every year due to various reasons, he said.

Every year, such projects are identified, and the authorities are asked to take necessary measures to avoid such problems in the future. But year after year, the same problem persists. It also increases the duration of the development projects, he added.

The IMED identified 336 projects that were completed in the last fiscal year. Of them, 150 projects completed 100% of the physical works, while the remaining projects were declared completed, leaving aside implementation.

The report has also categorised the 1,836 projects commissioned in the revised ADP for FY22 on the basis of the implementing agencies' capacity to utilise the allocated funds.

It said as many as 161 projects registered zero to below 25% spending against the revised annual development target last year, which has been termed "frustrating" by the monitoring and evaluation authorities.

According to the report, not a single penny was spent on 94 projects against an allocation of Tk1,005 crore, while 67 others spent less than 25% of the revised ADP allocation of Tk1,714 crore.

The reasons for the sluggish project spending noted by the IMED are typical: land acquisition issues, tender delay, lack of feasibility studies and planning, and project undertaking without any assurance of foreign funding.

The IMED report notes that of the total 1836 projects, spending on 79 projects hovers around 26%-50%. Some 165 projects have logged 51%-75% spending, while work on 751 clocked an "appreciable" 100% spending.