Upcoming budget and mega – projects
The idea for introducing
a separate budget is
ambitious and innovative
in nature but at the same time the government will have to ensure its proper implementation
Since the past year almost every week our newspapers have been publishing news stories of various ongoing and upcoming infrastructure projects. In fact the frequency of these reports often raises the concern - whether they can be completed within the stipulated timeframe and also within their allocated budgets. During a recently held pre-budget discussion the finance minister mentioned of a separate budget titled capital budget an exclusive budget meant to finance all mega-projects in Bangladesh. The idea for introducing a separate budget is ambitious and innovative in nature but at the same time the government will have to ensure its proper implementation.
Money surely is an important pre-requisite for such big-scale projects but we havent actually experienced the required skills and expertise to handle them in the recent past. Moreover, a number of our mega-projects could not be completed due to poor planning besides delayed and inefficient handling. So these drawbacks will have to be taken under serious consideration. It is exactly at this point, where the monitoring of our mega-projects will have to be professionally strict and uncompromising in order to prevent tendering corruptions, overrun costs and unnecessary delays in procuring raw materials. Less than some three months ago it was reported how delayed completion of a number of mega projects in the country had resulted in cost escalation while impeding the flow of investments. An Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) report then had analysed how the Padma Multipurpose Bridge (PMB) and Moghbazar-Mouchak flyover projects then had incurred added but avoidable costs.
We expect the governments concerned authorities to draw lessons from them corresponding to other bigger projects. Among the ongoing huge infrastructures the Payra deep seaport, Matarbari coal-based power plant, Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant and the Dhaka Metro Rail Project are all much bigger in terms of costs and size. In addition, our flawed contract management system with bidders has often resulted in slower payment schedules leading to unanticipated delay and cost overruns. This is particularly important since an active bidding syndicate improperly and indirectly plays a dubious role in delaying mega projects in the hope of increased profiteering.
We expect the inclusion of the new budget to be well-thought and used appropriately so to materialise the mega- infrastructures on time. It is often said that a curious paradox exists in which more and more mega-projects are being proposed in todays world despite their consistently poor performance against initial budget and schedule forecasts. We believe our high-ups in the finance ministry have taken heed from it. Lastly, mega-projects should not be political agendas for attracting a lot of public attention because of being massive visible objects but create substantial positive impacts on our communities while making the best out of public money.
