ECNEC nods project on preparedness for disasters

Staff Reporter :
The government has taken up a project titled Local Government Covid-19 Response and Recovery (LGCRR) to strengthen its urban local government institutions for responding to current and future pandemic and natural disasters, benefitting about 40 million urban residents.
The 12 projects which include LGCRR, involving an estimated Tk 15,744.56 crore, were approved by the ECNEC.
It would help strengthen the local institutions through training, technical support, and set up a web-based platform for better coordination and exchange of information during emergencies.
The LGCRR project will be implemented in all eight divisions: Barishal, Chattogram, Dhaka, Khulna, Mymensingh, Rajshahi, Rangpur and Sylhet.
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) on
Tuesday approved a Tk 2,555.25 crore for LGCRR project to enhance the capacity of the urban local government bodies in their recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic alongside strengthening their preparedness in facing such situation in the future.
The approval came in the 12th ECNEC meeting of the current fiscal year (FY22) held with the ECNEC Chairperson and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
The premier joined the meeting virtually from her official Ganobhaban residence while ministers, state ministers, planning commission members and secretaries concerned attended the meeting from the NEC Conference Room in the city’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, Planning Minister MA Mannan said that a total of 12 projects were approved involving an overall estimated cost of Tk 15,744.56 crore.
“Of the total project cost, Tk 11,674.83 crore will come from the government of Bangladesh portion, Tk 1.20 crore from the organization’s own fund while the rest of Tk 4,068.53 crore from project assistance,” he added.
Of the approved 12 projects, 11 are new while another one is a revised project.
Revealing some directives of the Premier in the meeting, the Planning Minister said that the Prime Minister asked the authorities concerned to increase afforestation in the coastal areas as well as expanding the coverage of the mangrove forests.
Sheikh Hasina stressed the need for expanding cultivation of the soybean and sunflower in the county to produce more edible oil to meet the growing demand.
At the very outset of the meeting, the planning minister said that the ECNEC greeted the Premier for attaining 100 per cent electricity coverage in the country alongside inaugurating the Payra Power Plant.
To rein in the inflation trend, Mannan said that the government has increased market intervention while essential items are being provided to some one crore families at an affordable price.
“It’s expected that the bite of inflation is reducing and hopefully within the next few days, the inflation trend will be under control,” he added.
Mannan said the major macroeconomic indicators are now strong while the inward remittance flow is also positive.
But, based on the data of the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and other government agencies, good results are coming out in terms of per capita income, power usage and life expectancy.
State Minister for Planning Dr Shamsul Alam said that the general point to point inflation rate is 6.1 per cent in Bangladesh which is 15.1 per cent in Sri Lanka, 12.2 per cent in Pakistan, 10.4 per cent in Brazil, 340 per cent in Venezuela, 52.3 per cent in Argentina, 54.4 per cent in Turkey and nine per cent in UK.
Meanwhile, the planning minister said out of the total project amount, the government will provide Tk 11.25 crore while the rest of Tk 2,544 crore will come from the International Development Association (IDA) of the World Bank.
The project will be implemented in some 10 city corporations and 329 Municipalities.
Under the project, toilets would be set at markets, graveyards, cremators, schools operated by the selected city corporations and Municipalities and thus hygiene and sanitation materials would be supplied to those.
Planning Commission officials said some 329 Municipalities and 10 city corporations will have the provision to receive funds bi-annually from the project to improve critical urban services delivery of facilities and infrastructure, local economic recovery, and preparedness to climate impacts, disaster and future disease outbreak.
The World Bank officials said the eligible urban local bodies will install community hand-washing stations and toilets; and improve sanitisation in municipality-owned or operated markets, burial grounds and public offices.
The project will help the residents have better access to municipality-operated health clinics and facilitate vaccine registrations for disadvantaged people and conduct awareness programs on Covid-19 protocols, vaccines and climate risks.
It will create 1.5 million days of temporary work as well as employment for 10,000 women under the public work scheme. The project will also help the local government institutions to improve preparedness to climate impacts, disaster and future disease outbreak.
The other projects approved in the meeting are Procurement of 200 broad gauge (BG) passenger carriages for Bangladesh Railway with Tk 1,704.33 crore, supplying water through harvesting of rainwater in coastal districts with Tk 961.76 crore, establishment of Air Force Training Institute at Zohurul Haque Base in Chattogram, 1st revised with an additional cost of Tk 140.42 crore, The Project for Improvement of Governance and Management Research and Training Facilities with Tk 228.08 crore, upgrading of three regional highways and three district highways into due standard and width under Naogaon Road Department with Tk 1182.49 crore, establishment of external telecommunication network for Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant with Tk 378.84 crore, establishment of seed multiplication farm in south eastern region of Bangladesh with Tk 438.93 crore.
The other approved projects are expansion of irrigation area and irrigation capacity through expansion of underground irrigation channels and introduction of drip irrigation system on test basis with Tk 329.01 crore, improvement of universal social infrastructures-2 (GSIDP-2) with Tk 1082 crore, Construction of important bridges on rural roads, 2nd phase with Tk 4,050 crore and important upazila and union road widening and strengthening in Barishal Division with Tk 2,693.43 crore.