Staff Correspondent
Transport-sector “fast-track” megaprojects have suddenly veered into a slow lane as most have sought much lesser funds than current allocations in the development budget, officials said Saturday.
Failing to execute the target project works in the first half (H1) of the current fiscal year (FY) 2022-23, the government agencies have sought lesser money, project- insiders said.
The newly started “fast-track” MRT-1 and MRT-2 projects sought lower funds in the revised budget and the Dohazari-Cox’s Bazar rail, Bangabandhu railway bridge, and Matarbari port-development projects have sought cut-down allocation, too.
Besides, the megaprojects like Dhaka-Sylhet highway widening and Dhaka-Sylhet-Tamabil corridor land acquisition are getting lesser funds in the revised Annual Development Programme (RADP) than their original outlay in the current ADP.
Most of the ongoing fast-track projects have surrendered some funds from their current allocations as they have failed to complete their earmarked works in the current fiscal, said a senior Planning Commission (PC) official.
“When the government is trying to complete megaprojects before the next general election, likely to be held in January next year, the executing agencies are delaying their project works. It’s sorrowful news for the countrymen,” he said.
Following the weak project- implementation performances, the government had to trim the overall allocations in the RADP to Tk 2.27 trillion from Tk 2.46 trillion in the ADP for the current fiscal.
The agencies have executed only 28.16 per cent of the Tk 2.46 trillion ADP during the July-January period.
Bangladesh government has taken up more than a dozen “fast-track” megaprojects to take the country onto a new high in development process by spending billions of US dollars.
Among the massive fund-curtailed projects, Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited (DMTCL) has surrendered as much as 86 per cent of its current allocation for the MRT-1 in the newly approved RADP while 79 per cent from the MRT-5 project.
The allocation for the MRT-1 has been cut to Tk 4.83 billion from the current allocation of Tk 22.76 billion and from the MRT-5 the outlay has been slashed to Tk 4.06 billion in the RADP from Tk 28.81 billion in ADP.
Bangladesh Railway (BR) has cut allocations by 30 per cent to Tk 10.20 billion in the RADP from Tk 14.50 billion for the Dohazari-Cox’s Bazar-Ghundhum rail-track project.
Failing to implement the target development works, the state-owned railway has also sacrificed funds by 30 per cent toTk 26.99 billion in the RADP from Tk 38.50 billion in the ADP for the project on Bangabandhu rail-line over the Jamuna River.
The BR, however, attained Tk 1.0 billion worth of higher funds to Tk 59.09 billion in the RADP from Tk 58.09 billion allocated in the ADP for another “fast-track” project, Padma rail-link.
The Matarbari port-development project allocation has been downsized to only Tk 941.9 million in the RADP from „see page-2

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