MEDIA reports have said the government will allocate Tk 47,283 crore to 12 mega projects in the upcoming annual development budget. It seems to be a huge amount, about one fifth of the total proposed annual development programme of 2021-22 at Tk 225,324 crore. The outlay for those mega projects is about 49 per cent higher than those in the revised ADP of this year.
The planning commission is justifying the huge allocation hoping that the implementation scenario may improve next year after severe setback in executing the big projects this year and the year before from the fall out of corona virus. But as it stands out, such hope may not be practical given the ferocity of the second wave of the virus and the government’s poor preparedness to meet the pandemic.
Moreover, we would say, big budget is not big development. What we need for managing such a big budget is honesty and efficiency. But we have instead corruption and money laundering centering on such mega projects. There is no transparency and accountability, money is ending up in capital flight. So with big budget, the big question is how we would ensure proper use of the fund. Such contracts are offered to friendly parties without public tenders to make illegal fortune.
Of the nine mega projects implementation of an LNG terminal has been completed while India funded Moitree Super Thermal Power Plant is not listed as ADP funded project. Seven other projects that get ADP allocations include Padma bridge, metro rail, Padma bridge rail link, Dohazari-Cox’s Bazar-Gundum rail line, Rooppur nuclear power plant, Matarbari power plant, and Payra deep seaport. Five more mega projects funded by ADB include new metro rail projects — the Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Line- 1 and Line -5, Bangabandhu railway bridge over the River Jamuna, Dhaka-Ashulia Elevated expressway, and Karnaphuli Tunnel. It is not clear which of those mega projects will find place in the list of 12 projects to get prioritised allocations.
We would say huge cost and slow implementation of mega projects are seriously impairing the funding of other socio-economic projects which could directly benefit the poor. Mega projects benefit the rich and powerful. So they must be quickly implemented without allowing cost and time over-run. We should use such funds cautiously.
