Govt still happy with bigger projects for bigger corruption
MEDIA reports said Roads and Highways Department (RHD) would spend Tk 22.30 billion (2230 Crore) only on land acquisition to widen a 55-kilometre road to four lane between Kantakhali-Laxmikandor in the southern region connecting it with national highway. The road cost per km has been proposed at Tk 405.58 million and per acre land to cost at Tk 4.20 crore. The project proposal has been sent to Planning Commission for approval.
The cost seems to be terribly shocking and manifold bigger than similar road development cost in any developed countries as per reports by World Bank and Asian Development Bank. It is just beginning, but we can only guess the total road project cost will be many times higher. Our planning officials are regularly placing such inflated cost in big and small projects without facing critical scrutiny whatsoever on spending taxpayers money. It is almost a routine work to pass such projects and if some cost reviews were demanded in some cases, the same project comes back with some readjustment in expenditure figures.
Need no mention that how corruption will eat away the money if this amount of money can be made available.
Our planning system has become totally merged with a hybrid corruption system advanced and protected by concerned government agencies. Planners propose highly inflated cost of local and international tenders, several times higher cost of construction materials, unnecessary procurements, external training and hire of consultant to double the project costs. It is quite incredible the cost of a booti (knife) in an agricultural mechanization project was estimated at Tk 10,000. Project officials launder the fund at different stage.
Our experiences suggest that the bigger part of the land acquisition money will go to local party leaders, land officials and their agents. They would take big money in their pockets changing land grade of farm land but actual owners would get just a fraction of the government estimated value. This is the way corruption is devastating our planning system but this government can’t be expected to reverse the system.
The cost seems to be terribly shocking and manifold bigger than similar road development cost in any developed countries as per reports by World Bank and Asian Development Bank. It is just beginning, but we can only guess the total road project cost will be many times higher. Our planning officials are regularly placing such inflated cost in big and small projects without facing critical scrutiny whatsoever on spending taxpayers money. It is almost a routine work to pass such projects and if some cost reviews were demanded in some cases, the same project comes back with some readjustment in expenditure figures.
Need no mention that how corruption will eat away the money if this amount of money can be made available.
Our planning system has become totally merged with a hybrid corruption system advanced and protected by concerned government agencies. Planners propose highly inflated cost of local and international tenders, several times higher cost of construction materials, unnecessary procurements, external training and hire of consultant to double the project costs. It is quite incredible the cost of a booti (knife) in an agricultural mechanization project was estimated at Tk 10,000. Project officials launder the fund at different stage.
Our experiences suggest that the bigger part of the land acquisition money will go to local party leaders, land officials and their agents. They would take big money in their pockets changing land grade of farm land but actual owners would get just a fraction of the government estimated value. This is the way corruption is devastating our planning system but this government can’t be expected to reverse the system.
