Minister calls for zero tolerance on waste of money

Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Wednesday directed officials to implement ongoing development projects under the Local Government Division in a faster, cost-effective and people-friendly manner.

He gave the directive while addressing a review meeting on the progress of different development projects being implemented by the Local Government Division and city corporations. The meeting was held at the conference room of the LGRD Ministry at the Secretariat in Dhaka.

LGD Secretary Shahidul Hasan chaired the meeting. Senior ministry officials, representatives from different city corporations and project directors were also present, according to a press release issued by the ministry.

Mirza Fakhrul said all development projects are undertaken for public welfare and implemented with public money. Therefore, he said, transparency, accountability and timely implementation must be ensured at every stage.

“Every development project is taken for the welfare of the people and implemented with public money. So, transparency, accountability and punctuality must be ensured in project implementation,” he said.

The minister also stressed the need to keep project costs at a reasonable level, warning that negligence or financial irregularities could damage the reputation of the entire ministry.

He said successful development work improves the government’s image, while irregularities and delays weaken public trust. He urged project directors and officials concerned to discharge their duties with greater responsibility.

The minister further emphasised adopting modern and sustainable planning to improve the quality of public services, saying that completing projects on time should not be the only goal.

The meeting discussed the progress of ongoing projects, expenditure management and future work plans in detail.

The directive comes amid growing concern over delays, cost overruns and accountability issues in public infrastructure projects across the country.