Staff Reporter :
Nearly 50 per cent of beneficiaries under Bangladesh’s social safety net programmes are ineligible to receive government allowances, Planning Adviser Dr Wahiduddin Mahmud said on Sunday.
“Many individuals have been included in the programmes based on political considerations, and there has been undue influence in selecting genuine beneficiaries,” he told reporters during a briefing following a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) at the Planning Commission’s conference room in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar.
At the meeting, Ecnec approved 16 development projects, including a major infrastructure initiative for the Bay Terminal in Chattogram.
Dr Wahiduddin noted that appointing consultants is often a requirement for projects financed by foreign loans. “To secure large foreign loans, hiring small consultants becomes a necessity, as lenders typically insist on such arrangements,” he said.
He added that the total implementation cost of the Bay Terminal infrastructure development project is estimated at Tk 13,525.57 crore. Of this, the World Bank will provide Tk 9,333 crore, while the government will contribute Tk 4,192 crore from its own funds.
Explaining the significance of the project, he said, “The Port of Chattogram is essentially a river port, not a deep-sea port. To support our economic development, establishing a sea port is essential.”
The Bay Terminal initiative is part of a larger plan to expand port capacity. “This is a mega project. Today’s approval is for one component. Another terminal will be developed under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. In total, four terminals will be constructed. Instructions have been issued to ensure timely completion,” the adviser stated.
Among the other approved projects are establishment of a sewage system in Chattogram Metropolitan Area (Phase 1), improvement of Chattogram Water Supply, preparatory Technical Assistance for Green Railway Transport, drilling of two deep exploration wells in the Titas and Bakhrabad gas fields, capacity enhancement and strengthening of the Geological Survey of Bangladesh, development of air pollution monitoring under the Bangladesh Sustainable Recovery, Emergency Preparedness and Response Project, strengthening DAE and BADC under the same emergency preparedness programme and a multi-sector emergency response initiative to address the Rohingya crisis.
