Sluggish handling of mega projects

Delays results in cost escalation. Economy is affected and investments obviously slow down

Tardy implementation of mega projects in Bangladesh is not a new phenomenon. It has happened before, it’s still happening and despite its visible depressing consequences little is being done to overcome it.
Delayed completion of a number of mega projects in the country has resulted in cost escalation while impeding the flow of investments. Therefore, hitting and slowing down the country’s economic progress. Lately the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has reviewed the revised estimates of a number of mega projects and is reported to have approved the increased costs of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge (PMB) and Moghbazar-Mouchak flyover projects.
More generally, delays in the said two communications mega projects could have been easily avoided if they were properly planned, managed and if their progress were rigorously monitored and reported to proper authorities. Also, since, fluctuating price of construction materials leads to cost increase, so their estimates should have been supplemented with an extra budget for quick procurement of resources. Moreover, project cost increases due to delays in procurement activities. So the causes behind the delay in procurement of all our mega projects should be appropriately investigated and reported.
In addition our contract management system with bidders that have a slow payment schedule could be leading to the existing delays and cost overrun. This is particularly important since an active bidding syndicate improperly and indirectly plays a dubious role in delaying mega projects in the hope for increased profiteering. Under current rules, there are two provisions for awarding extended and incomplete works —by floating new tenders or direct procurement through negotiations with the existing bidder. Government and concerned authorities will have to ensure that the said two processes are transparent and viable enough for completing our incomplete delayed projects fast – so to avoid managerial and financial corruptions.
Last of all, under the current context of our existing delayed mega projects the 2,400-MW Rooppur nuclear power project has been reported to cost around USD 10 billion, more than three times the initial estimates of the government. The project’s Russian developer, ROSATOM, has been hinting on this gigantic estimate of USD 10 billion. A couple of years ago, the government had estimated that the plant would cost between USD 2 billion and USD 3 billion. So the difference of the huge 7 billion dollar in estimation has to be taken into consideration without any form of procrastination.
Given the time, size, budget and time frames government and concerned authorities should put extra focus and employ an additional workforce to ensure well-timed completions of our mega projects before they harmfully impact our economy any further.

Sluggish handling of mega projects

Delays results in cost escalation. Economy is affected and investments obviously slow down

Tardy implementation of mega projects in Bangladesh is not a new phenomenon. It has happened before, its still happening and despite its visible depressing consequences little is being done to overcome it. Delayed completion of a number of mega projects in the country has resulted in cost escalation while impeding the flow of investments. Therefore, hitting and slowing down the countrys economic progress. Lately the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) has reviewed the revised estimates of a number of mega projects and is reported to have approved the increased costs of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge (PMB) and Moghbazar-Mouchak flyover projects. More generally, delays in the said two communications mega projects could have been easily avoided if they were properly planned, managed and if their progress were rigorously monitored and reported to proper authorities. Also, since, fluctuating price of construction materials leads to cost increase, so their estimates should have been supplemented with an extra budget for quick procurement of resources. Moreover, project cost increases due to delays in procurement activities. So the causes behind the delay in procurement of all our mega projects should be appropriately investigated and reported. In addition our contract management system with bidders that have a slow payment schedule could be leading to the existing delays and cost overrun. This is particularly important since an active bidding syndicate improperly and indirectly plays a dubious role in delaying mega projects in the hope for increased profiteering. Under current rules, there are two provisions for awarding extended and incomplete works by floating new tenders or direct procurement through negotiations with the existing bidder. Government and concerned authorities will have to ensure that the said two processes are transparent and viable enough for completing our incomplete delayed projects fast so to avoid managerial and financial corruptions. Last of all, under the current context of our existing delayed mega projects the 2,400-MW Rooppur nuclear power project has been reported to cost around USD 10 billion, more than three times the initial estimates of the government. The projects Russian developer, ROSATOM, has been hinting on this gigantic estimate of USD 10 billion. A couple of years ago, the government had estimated that the plant would cost between USD 2 billion and USD 3 billion. So the difference of the huge 7 billion dollar in estimation has to be taken into consideration without any form of procrastination. Given the time, size, budget and time frames government and concerned authorities should put extra focus and employ an additional workforce to ensure well-timed completions of our mega projects before they harmfully impact our economy any further.