Ghost dev projects at Dhaka Zila Parishad

REPORT in a national daily on Wednesday said Dhaka Zila Parishad has funded activities of 6,486 small welfare projects in last three years at various Upazila level. But field level probe into 175 projects showed 77 percent of them were non-existent projects to suggest concerned officials and ruling party men who operate around the Zila Parishad used them as a cover to swindle budgetary fund. In fact they have withdrawn the money through false billing and made illegal fortune in the name of funding welfare projects at local level.  
The probe into those projects suggests only 16 percent of them have local address and 7 percent beneficiaries got half or less than half the benefits of the 175 projects claimed to have been implemented at a cost of around Tk 6.0 crore. Dhaka Zila Parishad spent Tk 447.79 crore from 2011-2013 and it appears that the whole lot of money was grabbed and misappropriated by concerned officials and so-called contractors. As it appears it was unbridled corruption dominated everything where there was no transparency around project approval and fund disbursement. Zila Parishad has no accountability to higher authorities where ruling party men are politically active and it has not also demanded accountability from field level officials. They grabbed the money mutually while taxpayers are taking the brunt of the money as it comes from budgetary resources. Local Government Ministry alone allocated Tk 211 crore for those projects.
The cost estimates show Dhaka Zila Parishad allocated Tk two lakhs to buy stationery of Dhamrai Upazila Education Officer’s office but officials in this office claimed they did not get such money. In fact such allocations were made against schools, mosques, libraries, clubs and such other public facilities but the probe report now suggests these were mainly ghost projects.
Report quoted the Administrator of the Dhaka Zila Parishad as saying that she does not know of any such irregularities but one person known to be her personal secretary has withdrawn Tk 2.77 crore against projects expenditures. The question is that when such corruption and grabbing of public money are taking place at almost every public office why Dhaka Zila Parishad should spare public money from being swindled. But it can’t go unnoticed by watchdog agencies like the Anti-Corruption Commission and we demand that it should open large-scale investigations against them.
We know that the government has a procedural system how to make proposals by lower bodies to Zila Parishad for funding such local welfare projects and how approval to be given to such projects. It appears that Dhaka Zila Parishad has flouted all rules and regulations in this regard and they must be held accountable for it.