DHAKA — The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on Sunday approved 14 projects worth a total of 13,445 crore 41 lakh taka (about $1.23 billion) and decided to form an inquiry committee into repeated extensions of several projects.
Of the approved projects, five are new, five are revised and four involve time extensions. The repeated extensions overshadowed the size of the approvals, and the government decided to form an inquiry committee to examine them.
The meeting, the 10th of the current fiscal year and the second under the BNP government, was held Sunday, April 26, at the Bangladesh Secretariat.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, who chairs ECNEC, presided over the meeting, which approved the projects. Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury and other ministers and senior officials attended, according to a news release from the planning ministry issued after the meeting.
According to ECNEC sources, 17 projects were on the agenda but only 14 were approved. Total implementation cost has been set at 13,445 crore 41 lakh taka, of which 8,089 crore 56 lakh taka will come from government funding, 5,340 crore 26 lakh taka from foreign loans, and 15 crore 59 lakh taka from the implementing agencies’ own funds.
Although the council approved projects across several sectors, questions have been raised over the costs and implementation efficiency. Three road projects in the Barishal and Patuakhali regions had been extended up to five times without the expected progress. The government has decided to set up an inquiry committee, headed by the cabinet secretary, to examine the delays.
The approved projects include the Health and Family Welfare Ministry’s “Expanding Access to Integrated Health Services for the Urban Population” and the Finance Ministry’s “Customs Modernization and Infrastructure Development Project (1st revision).” The Fisheries and Livestock Ministry won approval for “Eradication of PPR Disease and Control of Foot-and-Mouth Disease (3rd revision).”
The Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Ministry secured approval for four projects: “Resilient Infrastructure for Adaptation and Risk Reduction (RIVER) (1st revision),” “Construction of Housing for Cleaning Workers under Chattogram City Corporation (1st revision),” “Various Infrastructure Development under Dhaka South City Corporation (2nd revision),” and “Emergency Water Supply in Dhaka City.”
Other approved projects include road construction in the Rangamati, Khagrachhari and Bandarban hill districts (2nd phase); upgrading of the Bairagirpul (Barishal)-Tungchar-Bauphal (Patuakhali) district highway (Z-8910) to proper standard and width (1st revision); upgrading of the Barishal-Bhola-Lakshmipur national highway (N-809) from Char Kauwa in Barishal to Ilisha ferry ghat in Bhola and on to Lakshmipur (1st revision); and construction of the Goma Bridge over the Rangamati river at the 14th kilometre of the Barishal (Dinarerpul)-Lakshmipasha-Dumki district highway (1st revision).
The Railways Ministry won approval for “Maintenance and Rehabilitation of the Western Railway Track (1st phase)” and “Construction of a Broad Gauge Railway from Madhukhali via Kamarkhali to Magura Town (1st revision).”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report