Why does highway construction need 3-times more money than similar ongoing projects?
THE relevant authorities in Bangladesh usually estimate the cost of a public project at an incredibly high amount.
After a project starts, its completion time is invariably extended, in some cases time is extended several times.
With this extension, the project cost escalates tremendously.
However, the estimated cost of the proposed infrastructure project of widening the Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar Highway into a four-lane one that is now with the Planning Commission seems to have surpassed them all.
For this project Tk 256 crore per kilometre has been proposed which is around three times higher than the allocation for similar ongoing projects, even in the standard of Bangladesh.
Currently, the allocated cost of the four-lane highway from Bhanga-Jashore-Benapole is Tk85.79 crore; Dhaka-Sylhet Highway is Tk82 crore; Elenga-Hatikumrul-Rangpur Highway is Tk94.31 crore.
All these projects are being implemented under the same Roads and Highways Department.
According to a report yesterday, this amount per kilometre for Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar Highway covers only the construction expenses for upgrading the 23.52km highway; there is no cost of flyovers, bridges, land acquisition, and contingency work here.
As per the RHD proposal, the project cost has been estimated at Tk12,136.54 crore with Japan providing a loan of Tk8,872.36 crore.
When asked as to why this high amount of cost was estimated, the answer provided by the RHD officials was that since JICA, the Japanese government’s international cooperating agency, conducted the feasibility study for the project and the project was planned according to Japanese standards, this might have resulted in this higher cost.
The RHD had no concrete answer for it.
And how could they have one? In this hapless country of ours, mega projects are taken up for mega corruption that has bled the economy seriously for which it is now in the ICU.
Finding no other means, the government had to extend hands to the IMF.
For getting a loan of $4.7 billion from the international lending organisation, following its conditions, the government raised the price of fuel oil, electricity, gas and fertiliSer as a result of which the price of every essential commodity has shot up.
Before taking the IMF loan, a dozen eggs used to be sold at around Tk 100, yesterday it was sold at Tk160-170.
Even if we take it for granted that there would be a revision of cost of Chattogram-Cox’s Bazar Highway, could we expect that the cost would come down to anywhere near the cost of Bangladesh’s similar ongoing projects, let alone the similar one in India? Not at all!
The expenditure of public money without any meaningful accountability has made the country’s financial management in such a precarious state that recovery from it now seems to be a matter of hope against hope unless a drastic change in handling of government affairs occurs through a change in government.
